Arc-et-Senans

Arc-et-Senans
Commune
Royal Saltworks
Coat of arms
Location of Arc-et-Senans
Arc-et-Senans Show map of France Arc-et-Senans Show map of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Coordinates: 47°01′59″N 5°46′45″E / 47.0331°N 5.7792°E / 47.0331; 5.7792
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Doubs
Arrondissement	Besançon
Canton	Saint-Vit
Intercommunality	Loue-Lison
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jacques Maurice[1]
Area 1	14.98 km2 (5.78 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	1,619
• Density	110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	25610 /39210
Elevation	226–292 m (741–958 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Arc-et-Senans (French pronunciation: [aʁk e sənɑ̃]) is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

The

The Loue river forms the southern and eastern border of the commune as it continues south to join the Doubs near Molay. The Ruisseau de la Reverotte flows from the north-east of the commune down the western side and forms part of the western border before continuing west to join the Loue east of Belmont.^[4]

Neighbouring communes and villages

^[4]

Toponymy

Arc-et-Senans was known as Petregium (Roche-sur-Loue) cited in the Chronicle by Saint-Benignus. It was Arcum in 1049, Sonans in 1275, Cenans et Arc en Valoye in 1490, and Arc en Vallois in 1681.^[5]

History

Traces of occupation dating back to the Roman era have been found, especially at a place called Le Cretot. Bones with broken tiles and bricks were visible in the soil during excavation. Father Letondal in his book Arc-et-Senans through the ages (in French) published in 1927 tells a quite complete communal history.

Heraldry

Blazon: Quarterly, at 1 Gules a fleur-de-lis bendy; at 2 Or, 3 bunches of grapes Argent leaved in Vert and posed 2 and 1; at 3 Or, a chevron Sable between 3 doves Vert in flight; at 4 Gules, 3 falcons Or perched of Sable posed 2 and 1.

Administration

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2021)

List of Successive Mayors^[6]

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,624 inhabitants.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 1,198 —     1800 1,428 +2.54% 1806 1,501 +0.83% 1821 1,410 −0.42% 1831 1,594 +1.23% 1836 1,657 +0.78% 1841 1,681 +0.29% 1846 1,605 −0.92% 1851 1,504 −1.29% 1856 1,491 −0.17% 1861 1,533 +0.56% 1866 1,528 −0.07% 1872 1,425 −1.16% 1876 1,354 −1.27% 1881 1,290 −0.96% 1886 1,312 +0.34% 1891 1,306 −0.09% 1896 1,229 −1.21%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,179 −0.83% 1906 1,204 +0.42% 1911 1,179 −0.42% 1921 1,060 −1.06% 1926 1,200 +2.51% 1931 1,201 +0.02% 1936 1,268 +1.09% 1946 1,290 +0.17% 1954 1,247 −0.42% 1962 1,308 +0.60% 1968 1,236 −0.94% 1975 1,231 −0.06% 1982 1,303 +0.82% 1990 1,277 −0.25% 1999 1,364 +0.73% 2007 1,438 +0.66% 2012 1,537 +1.34% 2017 1,624 +1.11%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source: EHESS[7] and INSEE[8]

Economy

The economic life of Arc-et-Senans is largely oriented towards tourism. The Royal Saltworks attracts 150,000 visitors per year (2000). In addition some small industry has developed, mainly in wood and to a lesser extent plastics. Finally there is still about a dozen farms which traditionally are oriented towards dairy cattle and grain farming.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

• The Chateau d'Arc (18th century)^[9] The Chateau d'Arc castle is more recent than the Chateau de Roche. It was built by Mr. Chaudois in 1751. The building is surrounded by a large park of three hectares protected by a surrounding wall. It has been an historical monument since 1984. There was a third fortified chateau in Arc – the Châtel-Rouillaud – but it burned down in 1638. Today there remains only the mound on which it was built.

• The Graduation de la Saline (Graduation of the Saltworks) (1775)^[10]
• The Royal Saltworks (1775)^[11]
• The Chateau de Roche (18th century).^[12] Originally it was a castle guarding a road and a ford on the Loue. In 1756 it was completely rebuilt by the Marquis de Grammont who intended to make it a home. It is this work that can be seen today. The body of the building is flanked by two square towers with Imperial roofs. In 1864, Amédée Caron transformed it again and implemented industrial activity around the chateau. The castle is now privately owned and can not be visited. It has been an historical monument since 1974.

Gallery of Pictures of the Royal Saltworks

• 
• 
• 
• 
  Entrance
• 
• 
• 
  Plan of the Royal Saltworks
• 
  Interior of the Royal Saltworks
• 
  The Garden at the Royal Saltworks
• 
  The Directors house entrance

Religious heritage

The religious heritage of the town is complemented by several wayside crosses erected in the village and by the presence of two chapels.

The Chapel of Arc was built with donations from parishioners and consecrated in 1913. It is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The bell tower has been rebuilt over nearly 25 years: farmers funded the work by donating the proceeds of the sale of the dairy factory. A complete renovation of the building was completed in 1997 by a team of volunteers.

The Chapel de la Grotte des Essarts

The Church of Saint-Bénigne was built in the 19th century in the classical style. The bell tower was rebuilt exactly in 1921 following a fire caused by a storm. The church has two organs. It also has many items that are registered as historical objects:

• A Painting: Christ and the chananéenne^[14]
• A Painting: Virgin and Child with donors (17th century)^[15]
• A Painting: The Saintly Family (17th century)^[16]
• A Painting: Placing in the Tomb (17th century)^[17]
• A Painting: Saint Joseph and the infant Jesus (17th century)^[18]
• A Painting: The Redemption (17th century)^[19]
• 4 Paintings: Scenes of the life of the Virgin (17th century)^[20]
• A Wayside Cross (19th century)^[21]
• A Pulpit (19th century)^[22]
• A Painting: Placing in the Tomb (16th century)^[23]
• A Painting: Virgin and child (17th century)^[24]

Transportation

The commune has a railway station, Arc-et-Senans, on the Franois–Arc-et-Senans [fr] and Dijon–Vallorbe lines.

Notable people linked to the commune

• Claude-Nicolas Ledoux
  , 1736–1806, architect of the Royal Saltworks
• René Caron, 1861–1930, administrator of the
  Doubs, president of the Union Rural workers Credit Unions of France, vice-president of the regional credit union of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, vice-president of the Agricultural Union of Centre-East, vice-president of the Forestry Society of the East, administrator of the branch for the Caisse épargne de Besançon at Arc-et-Senans, member of the Central Trade Union Chamber of the agricultural associations of France, member of the Chamber of agriculture of Besançon, member of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of Besançon
  , knight of the pontifical Order of Saint Gregory the great. He married Anne Marie Jacquard and was the son of Amédée Caron, engineer of Art and Manufactured products, sub-director of the Central Industrial and property finance School and of the Anne Alexandrine Nicolas de Meissas.
• Father Jean-François Rigaud, born in 1834 to a farming family in the village. He joined the Paris Foreign Missions Society and became a priest in 1861. He took part in a mission to eastern Sichuan in China. He was killed on 2 January 1869.
• Monseigneur Joseph-Auguste Chevalier, born on 16 March 1814. He was ordained priest in 1837 and joined the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He made his mission in India. On 11 November 1873 he was named Bishop of Hierapolis and apostolic vicar of Mysore. He died on 25 March 1880 of pleurisy and was buried in the Choir of the Cathedral of Bangalore in India.
• Father Pierre Poncet, born at Arc-et-Senans on 28 April 1932. He did his secondary studies at the Masters School of the Cathedral of Besançon then entered the large seminary in the same city. In 1953 he did his military service then requested admission to the Paris Foreign Missions Society in 1954. In 1956 he was newly summoned by the army to go to Algeria and served as 2nd lieutenant during those months. On returning to the Rue du Bac in Paris (headquarters of the Paris Foreign Missions Society) he was ordained priest on 2 February 1958 and was nominated as apostolic vicar of Huế (Central Vietnam). He died at Huế from a burst of sub-machine gun fire on 13 February 1968, as was another missionary – Father Cressonnier.
• Bernard Jobin, artist.

See also

• Communes of the Doubs department
• Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans

External links

• Arc-et-Senans official website (in French)
• Arc-et-Senans on the old IGN website (in French)
• Arc-et-Senans on Géoportail,
  National Geographic Institute
  (IGN) website (in French)
• Arc and Senans on the 1750 Cassini Map

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arc-et-Senans.