Belfort. Work on a Dijon-Mulhouse line of the TGV Rhine-Rhône is planned to start in 2006. Canal network The canal from the Rhône to the Rhine crosses Sundgau by Montreux-Vieux, Dannemarie and Illfurth. It has existed since 1824 and was conceived by Freycinet. Nowadays, it is too narrow for large barges and serves mainly for pleasure craft. A large project for the construction of a canal linking the Rhine to the Saône, passing along the Doubs, has been abandoned. Indirectly, it would have linked central Europe (Rhine, Danube, North Sea and Baltic Sea) to the Mediterranean without having to ship merchandise through the Straits of Gibraltar. But the anger of agriculturalists and environmentalists influenced the Minister of the Environment to abandon the project in 1998. Tourism The General Council of Haut-Rhin has taken an interest in Sundgau and in developing tourism in the region since 2000, along the lines of the management of the source of the Ill or the construction of a rest area on the route D419 near Chavannes-sur-l'étang. Sundgau is a region where the lifestyle permits the development of Green Tourism (i.e. where the visitor seeks calm, wishes to be in direct contact with nature, and has activities such as countryside walks and drives available). Heritage Château of Ferrette, the château of the counts of Ferrette Château of Morimont Château of Landskron Hundsbach Mill Ancient Cistercian abbey of Lucelle, destroyed during the Revolution, and rebuilt as a hotel Romanesque church of Feldbach Romanesque church of Altkirch Sundgauvien museum in Altkirch Hirtzbach (the village won 4 flowers in a national competition organised by the Conseil pour le Fleurissement de la France which promotes flower-planting) Notable Sundgauviens Xavier Jourdain, textile industrialist (1798–1866) Jean-Jacques Henner, painter (1829–1905) , farmer-poet, diviner (1867-1963) Dominik Richert, author of memoirs of the First World War (1893-1977 ) , sculptor (1899–1905) , educator (1935–2000) References Bibliography Claude Stadelmann, Le merveilleux existe. Contes et légendes du Sundgau, 2005 External links Historical Society of Sundgau Events in Sundgau and Altkirch Alsace and Sundgau website a detailed Alsatian Jura website the Sundgau through the wars 1648 disestablishments States and territories established in the 750s Geography of Haut-Rhin Carolingian counties Sequani History of Alsace