Salines de Salins-les-Bains

Salines de Salins-les-Bains is a historic salt production site in France where underground galleries, natural springs, and evaporation halls worked together to extract and process salt from saline water. The buildings and structures show how workers managed water flows, heated brine, and crystallized salt using methods that lasted for centuries.

Salt extraction at this location has roots reaching back thousands of years, making it a wealthy and important place since ancient times. The medieval period saw the town grow so significantly through the salt trade that it became one of the region's largest cities.

Salt production shaped how this place looks and how people lived here for centuries, influencing the buildings, streets, and daily rhythms of the town. You can still see how homes and workshops were organized around the salt springs, showing how central this craft was to community life.

You can visit year-round as the underground galleries stay at a steady temperature, making conditions comfortable in any season. Wear sturdy shoes since the paths can be uneven and floors are damp in the tunnels, so watch your footing.

A 21-kilometer underground brine pipeline once connected these saltworks to another major salt facility elsewhere, creating a linked production network that transported salt solution across the landscape. This pipeline system was remarkable engineering for its time and remains rare to find in historical sites.

Location: Salins-les-Bains

Part of: From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the Production of Open-pan Salt

Address: place des Salines

Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 09:30-18:00

Phone: +33384731092

Website: https://salinesdesalins.com

GPS coordinates: 46.93810,5.87556

Latest update: December 8, 2025 19:41