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.