Grande Saline de Salins-les-Bains, Salins-les-Bains
Facts and practical information
The Salins-les-Bains salt works are a group of two ancient salt works located in Salins-les-Bains, in the Jura department, in France. Site of industrial production of igneous salt, they are with the saltworks of Lons-le-Saunier among the oldest known, in activity since approximately 7 000 years.
Closed in 1962, they are now a tourist site inscribed since 2009 on the UNESCO World Heritage List in addition to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. The site had been on the tentative list since 2002.
Property of the town of Salins-les-Bains since 1966, the Salins-les-Bains saltworks have been part of the Engrenages network since 1978.
The Salins-les-Bains saltworks are one of the oldest known sites for the production of ignigenic salt. They illustrate the history of the techniques used to produce salt, the "white gold", from the collection of salt water springs over a period of nearly 7,000 years. Today, the Salins-les-Bains saltworks welcome about 70,000 visitors each year.
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté