--- title: "Grande Forge de Buffon: Visiting the 18th-Century Ironworks" description: "Ironworks built by the naturalist Buffon from 1768 to 1772 near Montbard, open in season only. Allow an hour, 1 h 15 from Beaune with a private driver." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/grande-forge-de-buffon lang: en updated: 2026-10-02 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/grande-forge-de-buffon.png --- # Buffon’s Great Forge (Grande Forge de Buffon) > Buffon’s Great Forge: an 18th-century ironworks built by the naturalist Buffon on the banks of the Armançon. Buffon’s Great Forge is in Buffon (Côte-d'Or), 1 h 18 by road (107 km) from Beaune. Allow 1 hour · Private driver from Beaune: €285 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. The Grande Forge de Buffon stands by the river Armançon, about three kilometres from Montbard. The naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon built it between 1768 and 1772 as a model ironworks of the Enlightenment. Its blast furnace, grand staircase and workshops still stand. ## Key facts - Type: Heritage - Where: Buffon · Côte-d'Or - Location: 80 km north-west of Beaune · Côte-d'Or - Coordinates: 47.6496, 4.2609 - 1 h 18 from Beaune - Allow 1 hour - Buffon - Official website: [grandeforgedebuffon.fr](https://www.grandeforgedebuffon.fr/) - From Beaune: ≈ 1 h 18 · 107 km - €285 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 1 h 18 by road (107 km), €285 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History Buffon, famous for his Histoire naturelle, inherited land and a forge from his mother. In his sixties he designed a new works where all the stages of iron making happened on one site, with homes for the workers, a bakery and a chapel around a large courtyard. Up to 400 workers were employed. The forge supplied iron railings for the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where Buffon was the intendant. Buffon also used the forge as a laboratory. He cast iron spheres of different sizes and timed how long they took to cool, to estimate the age of the Earth. His conclusions contradicted the Book of Genesis, and the Sorbonne pressed him to retract. After a flood in 1866 ended iron making, the site became a cement works until 1923. The same family has owned it since 1860 and has opened it to visitors since 1998. ## What you will see You walk through the industrial half of the site, which is largely open to the public. The high point is the blast furnace, reached by a monumental staircase built so that guests could watch the molten iron flow. Nearby are the workshops where the iron was hammered and cut, the water channels from the river and the wrought-iron gates forged on site in 1768. Leaflets from the entrance and a free audio guide app explain each stage. ## Planning your visit Allow about an hour. The forge is about 1 hour 15 minutes from Beaune, just outside Montbard, and fits well with the Musée et Parc Buffon or Fontenay Abbey. It is open from April to October, daily except Tuesdays outside July and August. Guided tours run only in July and August. The owners' private quarters are closed to visitors. Please check the official website for opening times. ## Did you know? In 2019 La Poste issued a stamp for the forge, one of a set of twelve raising money for Stéphane Bern's campaign to save endangered French heritage. ## Around Buffon’s Great Forge What to combine with Buffon’s Great Forge on the same day, nearest first. ### Châteaux - [Château de Montbard et Parc Buffon](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-montbard-parc-buffon) (6 km away): The towers of a ducal castle, reshaped by the naturalist Buffon into terraced gardens above his home town. - [Château de Rochefort](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-rochefort) (7 km away): The ruined residence of Louis XI's physician, being rebuilt stone by stone by a volunteer association. - [Château de Montfort](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-montfort) (8 km away): A ruined 13th-century fortress on a rocky plateau, linked to the story of the Shroud of Turin. ### Things to do - [Fontenay Abbey (Abbaye de Fontenay)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/abbaye-de-fontenay), 10 km away: One of the best-preserved Cistercian abbeys in the world, alone in a quiet wooded valley of the Auxois. - [Semur-en-Auxois](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/semur-en-auxois) (18 km away): A fortified town on a pink granite spur, looped by the river Armançon and guarded by great towers. - [Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/collegiale-notre-dame-semur-en-auxois) (18 km away): A tall, narrow Gothic church whose windows show the drapers and butchers of Semur at work, and one remembers American soldiers. ## Questions about Buffon’s Great Forge ### How far is Buffon’s Great Forge from Beaune? Buffon’s Great Forge is about 1 h 18 from Beaune by road (107 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €285 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Buffon’s Great Forge take? For the visit, allow 1 hour. ### When is Buffon’s Great Forge open? Opening days and times change during the year, so check the official website (grandeforgedebuffon.fr) before you go. Your driver can plan the day around them. ### Can a private driver take us to Buffon’s Great Forge? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:forge): €285 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - --- Canonical page: