The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, Architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux’s Ideal City

In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the little town of Arc-et-Senans is home to a complex of stupefying dimensions. Built in the middle of fields at the height of the Enlightenment by an architect who has left examples of his art and trailblazing utopia of urbanism all over France, the ideal city of this visionary architect has been listed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.

Arc-et-Senans, the architectural crown of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux’s work

Built by command of Louis XV, the complex, previously devoted to the production of salt, forms a great arc. Conceived as a completely integrated factory, it counts 11 buildings which contained the workshops and workers’ dwellings until 1895. The site was preserved from pillage and destruction, and then restored. This is how the majority of its features have been conserved, such as the Director’s House, the Stables, the East and West Salt Buildings, the Eastern and Western Workers’ Buildings, the Eastern and Western Berniers Buildings, the Cooperage, the Guards Building, and the Blacksmithery.

With its alternating cylindrical and cubic stones, the former Director’s House is located at the site’s centre. © DR

Veritable concrete cathedrals, the Berniers Buildings were used to heat the salt brine to obtain the final product. © DR

A living and flourishing heritage

Nowadays, 3 museums devoted to this heritage and its conservation have their quarters in the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. And in all seasons, exhibitions, garden festivals, concerts, children’s events, conferences and innovative experiences flourish. Cultural initiatives have made it a major tourist and recreation site, only 2 hours from Paris.

In the summertime, the tropical garden plays host to events. © DR