Industrial and defensive architecture

The people of Franche-Comté have over the centuries made the most of the abundant natural resources: the salt water springs brought prosperity to the town of Salins les Bains.

To treat the water, the salt works of Arc-et-Senans were built just 15 km from Salins. The Forest of Chaux provided the wood necessary for the production of salt.

As for the water, it was brought in by channels built out of tree trunks, hollowed at and joined together. In Franche-Comté, the chief natural resource is wood: used as a fuel (the Syam forges, for example, and as a raw material (the sawmills and word turning shops), it also has the advantage of being an inexpensive material. The age of industrialisation (mid-19th century) saw the influx of a host of new materials: iron and cast iron, in particular, which modified local architectures.

Defensive architecture or fortifications

If you love history and castle fortresses, you have come to the right place. The technique of the siege in wartime has bequeathed Franche-Comté a series of remarkable fortified sites. The work of VAUBAN is, of course, the highlight of this architecture.

The Citadel, the bastioned towers and Griffon Fort all illustrate how Vauban improved the natural defence system in Besançon. The River Doubs loops around the ancient city centre. The rocky outcrop, set in the narrowest part of the meander, closes off the entrance to the loop. Vauban enhanced this "natural fortress" by building his citadel there, with an almost uncanny meticulousness, ensuring the city could not be taken from the hills of Chaudanne and Bregille. Griffon Fort defends the hill. The whole ensemble of fort and citadel is a truly remarkable adaptation to the natural terrain. The fortifications of Besançon were completed in 1693, after almost 20 years of work. They had proved so costly that it is said that Louis XIV enquired as to whether the walls had been made out of gold.

In Belfort, you can admire the huge bastioned towers that stand over the old town, or travel to Salins-les-Bains to visit the Fort Saint-Antoine.