Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans

The Saline Royale is a historical building at Arc-et-Senans in the department of Doubs, eastern France. It is next to the Forest of Chaux and 29.2 kilometres to the southwest of Besançon. The architect was Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, a prominent Parisian architect of the time. The work is an important example of an early Enlightenment project in which the architect based his design on a philosophy that favored arranging buildings according to a rational geometry and a hierarchical relation between the parts of the project.

The Institut Claude-Nicolas Ledoux has taken on the task of conservator and is managing the site as a monument. In 1982, UNESCO added the "Salines Royales" to its list of World Heritage Sites, along with the older saltworks at nearby Salins-les-Bains, for their outstanding architecture and testimony to the history of open-pan salt making.