Arc-et-Senans

Arc-et-Senans is a large commune located some 32 km south-west of Besançon and 30 km east by south-east of Dole. It lies between the Loue river in the south and the Chaux forest in the north at 250 metres altitude. The northern western, and southern borders of the commune are the departmental border between Doubs and Jura. Only the short north-eastern border connects the commune to Doubs. Access to the commune is by the D17 from Liesle in the north-east which passes through the town and continues west, changing to the D7 at the border, to Chissey-sur-Loue. The D31 comes from Rans in the north, changing to the D17E at the border, and continues south, changing again to the D32, to Cramans. The commune has several hamlets: Arc to the west of the main town and Senans to the north-east almost link into one town. Then there are also the hamlets of Le Defois and Le Vernois. There is an SNCF railway station at Arc-et-Senans town which is a junction for two lines and is served by the TER Franche-Comté. There are forests to the north but most of the commune is farmland.[4]

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]

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]

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

Arms of Arc-et-Senans

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.

List of Successive Mayors[6]

In 2017 the commune had 1,624 inhabitants.

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.

Arc-et-Senans railway station

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

• Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, 1736–1806, architect of the Royal Saltworks
• René Caron, 1861–1930, administrator of the Banque de France, MP for Doubs from 1919 to 1924, member of the commission of agriculture as well as those of the economy and finance, president of the administrative council of Eclair Comtois, president of the Union of Catholics of Besançon, president of the Union of Agricultural associations of 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.

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