Besançon is a commune in eastern France, prefecture of the Doubs
department and seat of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Located
on the edge of the Jura massif, less than sixty kilometers from
Switzerland, it is surrounded by hills and crossed by the Doubs.
Capital of the historical and cultural region of Franche-Comté,
Besançon today constitutes an important administrative center within
the administrative region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté by hosting the
headquarters of the regional council and the academic region as well
as a certain number of regional offices. It is also the seat of one
of the fifteen French ecclesiastical provinces and of one of the two
divisions of the Army.
Its inhabitants, called the Bisontins,
numbered 115,934 in 2017. The urban unit, which for its part had
137,837 inhabitants, is the second largest city in the region in
terms of number of inhabitants. It is at the center of an
intercommunality, Grand Besançon Métropole, comprising 68
municipalities and 193,279 inhabitants in 2017 and an urban area of
251,700 inhabitants.
Established in a meander of the Doubs,
the city has played an important role since the Gallo-Roman era
under the name of Vesontio, capital of the Sequanes. Its geography
and specific history have made it in turn a military stronghold, a
garrison city, a political center and a religious capital.
The historic cradle of French watchmaking, Besançon inherited this
know-how to become an important industrial center made up of
innovative companies in the field of microtechnology, micromechanics
and biomedical engineering. A university town, its university,
founded in 1423, welcomes nearly 30,000 students each year,
including around 4,000 trainees from all over the world within its
center for applied linguistics.
Proclaimed the first green
city in France, the Comtoise capital enjoys a recognized quality of
life. Thanks to its rich historical and cultural heritage and its
unique architecture, Besançon has had a City of Art and History
label since 1986 and its fortifications by Vauban have been on the
UNESCO World Heritage list since 2008.
Besançon is classified City of Art and History, therefore many
historical monuments mark the city including the Vauban
fortifications registered with UNESCO since 2008, the Saint-Jean
cathedral at the foot of the Citadel as well as some Gallo remains.
Romans.
St. John's Cathedral
Citadelle de Besançon -
former Vauban fortifications which now house a zoological garden and
museums. To see in particular the Museum of the Resistance and the
Deportation as well as the Comtois museum, but also the insectarium
and the noctarium.
Museum of Resistance and Deportation
Comtois Museum
Museum - many animal areas to discover including
the zoological garden, the insectarium, the aquarium and the
noctarium.
Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology - Among other
interesting Egyptian and Gallo-Roman collections.
Museum of Time
- Housed in the Granvelle Palace, with notably collections of clocks
and the Foucault pendulum.
By plane
The nearest international airport is
Mulhouse-Bâle-Freiburg, about 150 km away. The city has the regional
airport of Franche-Comté located in the town of Tavaux.
By
train
Besançon has two stations:
1 Besançon-Viotte station
- Close to the city center, the station is about 2 hours 30 minutes
from Paris via the Paris-Besançon TGV line.
2 Besançon
Franche-Comté TGV station - In service since 11 December 2011, which
allows you to reach Paris in 2 hours. It is located in the
municipalities of Auxon-Dessus and Auxon-Dessous, about 11 km from
Besançon, and is on the LGV Rhin-Rhône line. A shuttle takes you to
Besançon Viotte station in just 13 minutes.
By car
The A36
motorway connects Besançon with Paris (400 km), Lyon (250 km) and
Strasbourg (250 km). The network of national roads serves Belfort
(100 km), Dijon (100 km), and neighboring Switzerland (approx. 100
km).
To visit the old center, walking will be the most suitable, otherwise the city has a fairly developed bus and tram network. Ginko network You can park easily by car, but most of the car parks are chargeable near the city center. Besançon is equipped with self-service bike rental and a car-sharing service.
Besançon's origins trace back to the Gallo-Roman era as Vesontio, the
capital of the Sequani tribe, first mentioned by Julius Caesar in 58 BC
during the Gallic Wars. It developed into a fortified oppidum and later
a prosperous Roman town. By the medieval period, it became a Free
Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire in 1034, achieving full
independence in 1290. Under Habsburg rule during the Renaissance, it
flourished as a francophone imperial city. Spanish control followed
until Louis XIV's conquest in 1674, after which it became the
administrative center of Franche-Comté with a dedicated Parlement. The
renowned military engineer Vauban fortified the city extensively between
1678 and 1711, creating structures that remain iconic today.
The city
endured sieges during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) and occupation
in World War II, when the citadel served as a Nazi internment camp
(Frontstalag 142) holding 3,000-4,000 British civilians, many of whom
perished. Post-war, the citadel was repurposed as a museum in 1959. The
name evolved from Vesontio to Besançon by 1243, reflecting its
linguistic and cultural shifts.
Situated in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region within the Doubs department, Besançon lies at 47°14′24″N 6°1′12″E, close to the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border. The city's unique topography features a dramatic oxbow meander of the Doubs River, encircling the old town in a nearly 1 km-wide loop. This natural fortification is flanked by Mont Saint-Étienne (371 m) to the south and other hills like Brégille, Griffon, Planoise, Chaudanne, Montfaucon, and Montboucon, which rise to 400-500 m. The municipal area spans 65 km², with the urban area covering 529 km² and the metropolitan area 2,515 km². Besançon experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb), with mild winters (average January temperature of 2°C) and warm summers (July average of 20°C), receiving about 1,157 mm of annual precipitation. Its position places it 325 km east of Paris, 100 km east of Dijon, 125 km northwest of Lausanne, and 100 km southwest of Belfort.
Historically known as France's watchmaking capital, Besançon overcame a 1970s industry crisis—exemplified by the Lip affair—by specializing in high-end, customized timepieces. Today, it's a leader in microtechnology, micromechanics, and biomedical engineering, hosting events like the Micronora trade fair. The economy has diversified since the 1990s into telecommunications, biotechnology, and automatic ticketing systems. Once a center for artificial textiles until the mid-20th century, the city now blends traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge innovation.
Education is a cornerstone, with the University of Franche-Comté (founded 1423) enrolling nearly 30,000 students. It includes specialized centers like the Centre for Applied Linguistics (CLA), teaching languages such as French, Arabic, and Japanese to 4,000 students annually. Engineering institutions shine: the École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques (ENSMM) focuses on microtechnology and mechanics, while the Institut Supérieur d'Ingénieurs de Franche-Comté (ISIFC) is France's pioneering biomedical engineering school.
Besançon has produced influential figures across fields. Birthplaces include writer Victor Hugo, philosopher Pierre Joseph Proudhon, utopian socialist Charles Fourier, composer Claude Goudimel, dramatist Jean de Mairet, and cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle. Other notables: writers Charles Nodier and Alfred Nicolas Rambaud, engineer Charles Bernard, musician Fred Gerard, and athletes like wrestler Ghani Yalouz, boxer Khedafi Djelkhir, and archer Jean-Charles Valladont.
As the seat of the regional council and ecclesiastical province, Besançon hosts the 1st Armored Division and features modern transport like the A36 motorway, high-speed rail to Paris and Europe, a tram system (since 2014), and Ginko buses. Nearby airports include Dole-Jura and Basel-Mulhouse. Sports teams include handball's ESBF and soccer's Racing Besançon, with the city occasionally hosting Tour de France stages. Under Mayor Anne Vignot (since 2020), it maintains twin towns and a funicular (though closed since 1987). Overall, Besançon embodies a harmonious fusion of natural beauty, historical depth, and contemporary vitality.