Arc-et-Senans

History

Traces of occupation dating back to the Roman era have been found, especially at a place called Le Cretot. Bones with broken tiles and bricks were visible in the soil during excavation. Father Letondal in his book Arc-et-Senans through the ages published in 1927 tells a quite complete communal history.

Geography

Arc-et-Senans is a large commune located some 32 km south-west of Besançon and 30 km east by south-east of Dole. It lies between the Loue river in the south and the Chaux forest in the north at 250 metres altitude. The northern western, and southern borders of the commune are the departmental border between Doubs and Jura. Only the short north-eastern border connects the commune to Doubs. Access to the commune is by the D17 from Liesle in the north-east which passes through the town and continues west, changing to the D7 at the border, to Chissey-sur-Loue. The D31 comes from Rans in the north, changing to the D17E at the border, and continues south, changing again to the D32, to Cramans. The commune has several hamlets: Arc to the west of the main town and Senans to the north-east almost link into one town. Then there are also the hamlets of Le Defois and Le Vernois. There is an SNCF railway station at Arc-et-Senans town which is a junction for two lines and is served by the TER Franche-Comté. There are forests to the north but most of the commune is farmland. The Loue river forms the southern and eastern border of the commune as it continues south to join the Doubs near Molay. The Ruisseau de la Reverotte flows from the north-east of the commune down the western side and forms part of the western border before continuing west to join the Loue east of Belmont.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  611
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  564
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  542
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  540
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  405
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  399
• European Greenfinch

  Chloris chloris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  390
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  291

Most recent

• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 4.1 — 2021-12-24
  2 km WSW of Blamont, France
• M 4.1 — 2016-12-03
  2 km SE of Damparis, France
• M 2.7 — 2008-07-22
  3 km N of Devecey, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-02-21
  3 km S of Longchamp, France
• M 2.8 — 2008-02-05
  4 km ENE of Vercel-Villedieu-le-Camp, France