SALINS, a town-of eastern France, in the department of Jura, on a branch line of the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) 4293. Salins is situated in the narrow valley of the Furieuse, between two fortified hills, while to the north rises Mont Poupet (2798 ft.). The town possesses an interesting Romanesque church (which has been well restored) and an hôtel de ville of the 18th century. A Jesuit chapel of the 17th century contains a library (established in 1593) and a museum. Salins owes its name to its saline waters, used for bathing and drinking. There are also salt workings and gypsum deposits.
The territory of Salins, which was enfeoffed in the 10th century by the abbey of Saint Maurice in Valais to the counts of Mâcon, remained in possession of their descendants till 1175. Maurette de Salins, heiress of this dynasty, left the lordship to the house of Vienne, and her granddaughter sold it in 1225 to Hugh IV., duke of Burgundy, who ceded it in 1237 to John of Chalon (d.1267) in exchange for the count ship of Chalon-sur-Saône. John’s descendants—counts and dukes of Burgundy, emperors and kings of the house of Austria—bore the title of sire de Salins. In 1477 Salins was taken by the French and temporarily made the seat of the parlement of Franche-Comté by Louis XI. In 1668 and 1674 it was retaken by the French and thenceforward remained in their power. In 1825 the town was almost destroyed by fire. In 1871 it successfully resisted the German troops.