The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans in the Doubs

Impossible to ignore the monumental columns that arise in the middle of almost nowhere. The Royal Saltworks in Arc-et-Senans, in the Doubs, is more like a temple than an industrial site.

This is, however, its origin. One of the permanent exhibitions also tells the story of salt, its origin, its production and everything that revolves around the white gold. We discover the construction of the brine pipeline made up of 15,000 spruce trunks which brought salt-laden water from Salins-les-Bains, the operation of the graduation building, cooking in large stoves.

When the pipes of the brine pipeline broke in 1895, it was the end of the saltworks created in 1774. But not the end of the site, designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, visionary architect of the Age of Enlightenment.

After passing through the entrance, a vast semi-circular space comes into view, surrounded by buildings that once housed the forge, the cooperage, and the workers' quarters.

In the center, the director's house stands out with its columns made of cubic and cylindrical stones. A large circle evokes an eye that seems to be watching everything.

 “La Saline Royale, commissioned by Louis XV, is one of Ledoux's masterpieces”, believes Grégory, a passionate guide. 

And to continue: “In Paris, he had made 80 buildings. There are only five left. The worldly architect, also nicknamed the jeweler Ledoux, was not unanimous. The people felt that he was building useless buildings while he felt that he was beautifying the city”.

The Ledoux museum, one of the largest dedicated to the genius of this architect of the Age of Enlightenment, shows around sixty models of his works, produced or still at the project stage, utopian but magnificent. This is the largest dedicated exhibition, Claude Nicolas Ledoux.

With the Saline Royale project, Ledoux seeks to create the harmony of the ideal city. Concerned about the well-being of the man, he had planned curtains of fruit trees to ensure a little privacy for the workers. Its form must be “as pure as the course of the sun”.

Alas, he was only able to complete half of the circle… After the saline was closed for good, the site was abandoned and looted like so many others, ravaged by a fire. Saved from ruin thanks to the purchase by the Department of Doubs and several restoration campaigns, the Royal Saltworks is today renowned for its architecture. Artist residencies (notably Jordi Savall and his concert des Nations), exhibitions, concerts, activities for children make the site more lively.

Among the flagship events, the yearly Garden Festival chaired by Alain Baraton, head gardener of the Versailles estate.

The theme of the 19th edition was in perfect harmony with the temporary exhibition, Woodstock spirit. “Flower Power” is Woodstock on the garden side. The utopia of a generation, expressed through plants in a site born from the utopian spirit of an architect.

The result ? A stroll like an initiatory journey through colourful, dreamlike plots. There, climbing, drooping plants evoke the manes of the festival-goers. Further on, the tunnel of love leads to a dark pond.

The colorful path leads to a memorial, where barbed wire cohabits with flowers and in which Jimi Hendrix's guitar evokes the sound of a bomber….

When night falls, the atmosphere changes in the ephemeral gardens. Joyful and festive, romantic, mysterious or even a bit frightening: skilfully studied lighting underlines the character of each garden.

The 400 students from landscape schools and regional horticulture schools created psychedelic universes!

The Royal Saltworks having become an art centre, the site hosts a major exhibition every year. This year, there are even two.
Woodstock Spirit, which gave the theme to the garden festival, is a somewhat psychedelic exhibition.

Especially the first part. Equipped with special glasses, visitors dive into the heart of this gigantic gathering around music. Looking down, they see the footage actually scrolling above their heads. With headphones, the illusion is - almost - perfect

The Director's House welcomes another visionary who has his place in what should have become the ideal city, the dream of an utopian architect. From the top of the staircase, Jules Verne welcomes the visitor.

Engravings, models, drawings bring to life a fantastic, fascinating universe.

Absolutely fabulous, the drawings of Jean-Pierre Bouvet which deliver the plans of the machines described by the writer.

But the magic is also outside during the 4th and unfortunately last edition of the sound and light show which retraces the history of the site in seven scenes. The spectacle of the images projected on the facades is so captivating that we almost forget the hundred volunteers who take part in the staging!