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As of 2021, the population of the City of Besançon was 119,198. It is the 33rd most populous city of France. Grand Besançon Métropole covers 528.6 km 2 (204.1 sq mi), 68 municipalities and has a population of 197,494. The metropolitan area covers 2,514.5 km 2 (970.9 sq mi), 310 municipalities and has 283,127 inhabitants. [3]
Besançon - the jewel of eastern France. Cradled in a loop of the river Doubs, at the foot of its towering citadel, the ancient city of Besançon is one of the best preserved historic cities in France. In pre-Roman times, it was the capital of an area known as Sequania. When the area was conquered by the Romans, Julius Caesar described this ...
Besançon, city, capital of Doubs département, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté région, eastern France. It lies astride a horseshoe meander of the Doubs River, 45 miles (75 km) east of Dijon. It early became the chief town (Vesontio) of the Sequani Gauls and in 58 bce was taken by Julius Caesar. Besançon became the seat of an archbishopric in the ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Citadel. The UNESCO-listed citadel is arguably Vauban’s crowning glory. The military mastermind conceived this 11-hectare fortified complex in the 1660s, and it adapts to the mammoth promontory at the neck of the loop in the Doube River.
- Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie. In 1694 the abbot and scholar Jean-Baptiste Boisot left his hoard of manuscripts, busts, medals, paintings and books to the Benedictine monks of Saint-Vincent, providing it was made available to the public two days a week.
- Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation. Besançon’s museum about the resistance and the concentration camps packs an emotional punch. The museum’s home is the cadet building in the Citadel, and this setting isn’t coincidental as some 100 resistance members were shot here in the war.
- Musée du Temps. In the late-18th century Swiss craftsmen poured into Besançon, turning it into one of Europe’s capitals for watchmaking. That legacy is evident today in the city’s nanotechnology industries, for which Besançon is a world leader.
- Citadelle de Besançon. Dominating the city from Mt St-Etienne, more than 100 vertical metres above the old town, the 17th-century Citadelle de Besançon – designed by Vauban for…
- Musée du Temps. Literal and figurative interpretations of time are woven together at the Musée du Temps, which places allegorical paintings about the passage of time next…
- Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie. France's oldest public museum, founded in 1694, is famous for its stellar collection of local Gallo-Roman archaeology; its Cabinet des Dessins, with some…
- Horloge Astronomique. The base of 18th-century Cathédrale St-Jean's bell tower houses an incredible astronomical clock, powered by 11 weights, that has run the church's bells…
Besançon (/ b ə z ɑ̃ s ɔ̃ / [n 1]) est une commune de l'Est de la France, préfecture du département du Doubs et siège du conseil régional de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Située en bordure du massif du Jura à moins d'une soixantaine de kilomètres de la Suisse , elle est entourée de collines et traversée par le Doubs .
Tourism, holidays & weekends guide in the Doubs. 30 days to learn French, free of charge! A language, a culture, a history. A fun way to learn! Just 10 minutes a day. Capital of the Franche-Comté region, the City of Art and History of Besançon is built on a loop of the River Doubs and is dominated by the imposing silhouette of its citadel.
