Musée Claude-Nicolas Ledoux d'Arc-et-Senans

Over het museum

The Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans was a salt factory commissioned by Louis XV and built between 1775 and 1779 by the architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and can be visited in a 13-hectare park. The Musée Ledoux, founded in 1991 by the Fondation Claude-Nicolas Ledoux and the Doubs département, is housed in the site’s former cooperage.

It presents itself as the only museum in Europe devoted to an architect. Some sixty models trace Ledoux’s life, of which few buildings survive – either because they were never built or because they have disappeared. Visitors can see his theatres, town houses and customs houses, but also utopian projects such as the ideal city of Chaux, a cemetery, schools and prisons. A multilingual touchscreen offers three routes, including a scientific route with digitised plates from his treatise and 3D models.

The museum is one of five permanent exhibitions at the Royal Saltworks, alongside the Centre de Lumières, the Pavillon des traditions, “Histoires de sel” and “Une mémoire du lieu”. The site also has gardens, a hotel, a seasonal restaurant, a bookshop-boutique and year-round cultural programming.

Hoogtepunten

• Around sixty models of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux’s projects
• Multilingual touchscreen with three routes and 3D models
• Royal Saltworks listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Five permanent exhibitions, including the Centre de Lumières
• Digital tour with the HistoPad tablet included in the ticket
• 13-hectare park with around thirty gardens

Vaste collectie

• Musée Claude-Nicolas Ledoux – Around sixty models present the architect’s built and imagined work, with a multilingual touchscreen.
• Le Centre de Lumières – Immersive exhibition introducing UNESCO World Heritage Sites from around the world.
• Histoires de sel – Exhibition in the Director’s House on the history of the factory and of the salt workers.

Opgericht

1991

Beheerder

EPCC Saline royale

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Adult tickets: €13 from November to March, €15 from April to October (reduced €12 / €13). The ticket gives access to the whole site and includes the HistoPad tablet. No booking required. Payment in cash, by bank card (except American Express), with ANCV holiday vouchers, Chèques culture UP and Kadéos cards.

Toegankelijkheid

• Deels rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift: geen informatie
• Aangepast toilet: geen informatie
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The Royal Saltworks is largely wheelchair-accessible. The Director’s House has one step at the entrance and five steps up to the “Histoires de sel” exhibition; the temporary exhibition on the second floor is not wheelchair-accessible. Wheelchairs are lent free of charge. Reserved parking spaces are less than 100 m from the entrance. Tactile models in Braille and in relief, guides for visually impaired visitors, magnifiers, induction loops (for loan and at the ticket desk), subtitled films, adapted tours with sign language interpreters for groups by reservation, booklets in easy French (FALC), and the S3A label. Guide dogs are allowed in the buildings.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Speurtocht, doeboekje of kinderaudiotour

A route for children on the HistoPad (with a treasure hunt), activity booklets linked to the temporary exhibitions and “Utop’tits” workshops complete the visit. The Royal Saltworks has signed the Mom’Art charter of “joyful museums”.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

By road: A36, exit Gendrey / Saline royale, or A39, exit Poligny; Besançon 35 km, Dole 30 km.

Service & horeca

• Restaurant
• Museumwinkel

Seasonal restaurant on site, La Table des jardins (July and August: daily 11:00–19:00; May, June and September: weekends and public holidays; closed October to May). Bookshop-boutique open during the site’s hours. 3-star hotel on site. Picnic areas in the gardens.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Privéfeesten
• Zakelijke evenementen
• Bruiloften / trouwceremonies

Tot 1.500 personen.

Conference centre with 15 meeting rooms for up to 1,500 people and accommodation for up to 97 people; for private events, reception halls for up to 400 people or the 13-hectare park.

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