Arans Gate

The Porte d'Arans

The Dole audio-guided tour presents you with the Porte d'Arans, which marks the entrance to the town centre. Erected in the sixteenth century, it is one of the last vestiges of the fortifications that once protected the city.

At the gates of the county of Burgundy

Erected in 1551, the Porte d'Arans formed part of the fortifications that then encircled the city. Dole once belonged to the county of Burgundy and had to defend itself against the assailants of the kingdom of France, liable at any moment to attempt to conquer it. The city was thus long surrounded by a vast enclosure, pierced with four entrances, of which this gate is one of the few to have been preserved to the present day.

What there is to see

The Porte d'Arans raises its robust silhouette of stone, a vestige of the defences of the old city. Crossing it, one imagines the vanished ramparts and the era when Dole had to protect itself from the armies of the king of France. It is a striking testimony of the military past and of the eventful history of the Comté city.

Practical information

The Porte d'Arans is at the entrance to the town centre of Dole. It can be contemplated and crossed freely on foot, at all hours and on the level, along the walk.

When was the Porte d'Arans erected?

In 1551, as part of the fortifications that then surrounded Dole, a city of the county of Burgundy.

Why was Dole fortified?

Because belonging to the county of Burgundy, it had to defend itself against the assailants of the kingdom of France; its enclosure had four entrances.