France

France Salt Stamp
The C18th Royal Salt Works at Arc-et-Senans depicted
on a French commemorative issued September 26, 1970.

In the seventeenth century the French government imposed its gabelle or salt tax forcing all people over eight years of age to purchase a minimum quantity of salt from a crown monopoly. Small saltworks used wood fires to heat evaporators and extract salt from brine. This resulted in deforestation of some areas with rich halite (salt rock) deposits. The crown ordered the construction of a larger, more efficient saltworks in the forest of Chaux in the Val d'Amour where brine could be delivered through wooden pipes. Construction began in 1775 and from 1780 to 1895, the salt water of Salins-les-Bains travelled through 21 km of wood pipes to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. The French Revolution which was, in part, inspired by resentment of the gabelle brought an end to a grand plan to build a model city around the saltworks. This architectural masterpiece was featured on a second French stamp for the second time on February 4, 2019.

Sources

"Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans." Wikipedia. 6 Mar. 2023. Web. 19 Mar. 2023.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Saltworks_at_Arc-et-Senans.

"From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the Production of Open-pan Salt."
World Heritage List. 2023. Web. 19 Mar. 2023.whc.unesco.org/en/list/203.

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