Besançon
Besançon | |
---|---|
Prefecture and commune | |
, the Granvelle Palace. | |
Motto: Plût A Dieu ("If God wills") or Utinam | |
Coordinates: 47°14′24″N 6°1′12″E / 47.24000°N 6.02000°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté |
Department | Doubs |
Arrondissement | Besançon |
Canton | Besançon-1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 |
Intercommunality | Grand Besançon Métropole |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2026) | Anne Vignot[1] (The Ecologists) |
Area 1 | 65.05 km2 (25.12 sq mi) |
• Urban (2021) | 528.6 km2 (204.1 sq mi) |
• Metro (2021) | 2,514.5 km2 (970.9 sq mi) |
Population (2021)[2] | 119,198 |
• Rank | 33rd in France |
• Density | 1,800/km2 (4,700/sq mi) |
• Urban (2021) | 197,494 |
• Urban density | 370/km2 (970/sq mi) |
• Metro (2021[3]) | 283,127 |
• Metro density | 110/km2 (290/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | 25056 /25000 |
Website | www |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Besançon (
Capital of the historic and cultural region of Franche-Comté, Besançon is home to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regional council headquarters, and is an important administrative centre in the region. It is also the seat of one of the fifteen French ecclesiastical provinces and one of the two divisions of the French Army.
In 2021 the city had a population of 119,198, in a metropolitan area of 283,127, the second in the region in terms of population.
Established in a meander of the river Doubs, the city was already important during the Gallo-Roman era under the name of Vesontio, capital of the Sequani. Its geography and specific history turned it into a military stronghold, a garrison city, a political centre, and a religious capital.
Besançon is the historical capital of
The greenest city in France,
History
Toponymy
The city is first recorded in 58 BC as Vesontio in Book I of Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The etymology of Vesontio is uncertain. The most common explanation is that the name is of Celtic origin, derived from wes, meaning 'mountain'. During the 4th century, the letter B took the place of the V, and the city name changed to Besontio or Bisontion and then underwent several transformations to become Besançon in 1243.
Ancient history
The city sits within an oxbow of the river Doubs (a tributary of the Saône); a mountain closes the fourth side. During the Bronze Age, c.1500 BC, tribes of Gauls settled the oxbow.
From the 1st century BC through the modern era, the town had a significant military importance because the Alps rise abruptly to its immediate south, presenting a significant natural barrier.
The Arar (
Julius Caesar, in his commentaries detailing his conquest of Gaul, describes Vesontio (possibly Latinized), as the largest town of the Sequani, a smaller Gaulic tribe, and mentions that a wooden palisade surrounded it. It appears as Vesontine in the Tabula Peutingeriana.
Over the centuries, the name permutated to become Besantio, Besontion, Bisanz in Middle High German, and gradually arrived at the modern French Besançon. The locals retain their ancient heritage referring to themselves as Bisontins (feminine: Bisontine).
It has been an
Middle Ages
In 843, the Treaty of Verdun divided up Charlemagne's empire. Besançon became part of Lotharingia, under the Duke of Burgundy.
As part of the
In 1290, after a century of fighting against the power of the archbishops, the Emperor granted Besançon its independence.
Renaissance
In the 15th century, Besançon came under the influence of the dukes of
When Charles V abdicated in 1555, he gave the Franche-Comté to his son, Philip II, King of Spain. Besançon remained a free imperial city under the protection of the King of Spain. In 1598, Philip II gave the province to his daughter on her marriage to an Austrian archduke. It remained formally a portion of the Empire until its cession at the peace of Westphalia in 1648. Spain regained control of Franche-Comté and the city lost its status as a free city. Then in 1667, Louis XIV claimed the province as a consequence of his marriage to Marie-Thérèse of Spain in the War of Devolution.
Louis conquered the city for the first time in 1668, but the
In 1674, French troops recaptured the city, which the
As a result of control passing to France, Vauban returned to working on the citadel's fortifications, and those of the city. This process lasted until 1711, some 30 years, and the walls built then surround the city. Between the train station and the central city there is a complex moat system that now serves road traffic. Numerous forts, some of which date back to that time and that incorporate Vauban's designs elements sit on the six hills that surround the city: Fort de Trois Châtels, Fort Chaudanne, Fort du Petit Chaudanne, Fort Griffon, Fort des Justices,
Modern Europe
In 1814, the Austrians invaded and bombarded the city. It also occupied an important position during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. In 1871, a project of Besançon Commune is engaged.
The
Besançon was also the location, between 1940 and 1941, of an Internment Camp (Konzentrationslager), Frontstalag 142, also known as Caserne Vauban, which the Germans set up for 3–4,000 holders of British passports, all women and children. The conditions were harsh; many hundreds of internees died of pneumonia, diarrhea, food poisoning, dysentery, and frostbite.[10]
In 1959, the French Army turned the citadel over to the city of Besançon, which turned it into a museum.
The forts of Brégille and Beauregard sit across the Doubs from the city. In 1913, a private company built a funicular to the Brégille Heights. The funicular passed from private ownership to the SNCF, who finally closed it in 1987. The funicular's tracks, stations and even road signs remain in place to this day.
Geography
Location
Besançon is located in the north-east quarter of France on the river Doubs. It is about 325 kilometres (202 miles) east of the national capital of Paris, 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Dijon in Burgundy, 125 km (78 mi) northwest of Lausanne in Switzerland, and 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Belfort in Franche-Comté. It is located at the edge of the Jura Mountains.
Topography
The city initially developed in a natural meander (or oxbow loop) of the river Doubs with a diameter of almost 1,000 metres (3,281 feet). The flat inner loop has an elevation of about 250 metres (820 feet), and is bounded to the south by a hill called Mont Saint-Étienne, which has a maximum height of 371 metres (1,217 feet). The city is surrounded by six other hills which range in elevation from 400 to 500 metres (1,312 to 1,640 feet): Brégille, Griffon, Planoise, Chaudanne, Montfaucon, and Montboucon. (There is a barge canal that cuts through rock under Mont Saint-Étienne, short-cutting the meander.)
Climate
Besançon has an
Climate data for Besançon, elevation: 307 m (1,007 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1884–present | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) |
21.7 (71.1) |
25.1 (77.2) |
29.1 (84.4) |
32.2 (90.0) |
36.6 (97.9) |
40.3 (104.5) |
38.3 (100.9) |
34.6 (94.3) |
30.1 (86.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
20.8 (69.4) |
40.3 (104.5) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.8 (42.4) |
7.6 (45.7) |
12.1 (53.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
19.9 (67.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
25.7 (78.3) |
25.5 (77.9) |
21.0 (69.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
6.4 (43.5) |
15.8 (60.4) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) |
3.9 (39.0) |
7.5 (45.5) |
10.6 (51.1) |
14.6 (58.3) |
18.2 (64.8) |
20.2 (68.4) |
20.0 (68.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
11.9 (53.4) |
6.9 (44.4) |
3.7 (38.7) |
11.4 (52.5) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.1 (32.2) |
0.2 (32.4) |
3.0 (37.4) |
5.6 (42.1) |
9.4 (48.9) |
12.9 (55.2) |
14.7 (58.5) |
14.5 (58.1) |
11.1 (52.0) |
7.7 (45.9) |
3.5 (38.3) |
0.9 (33.6) |
7.0 (44.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | −20.7 (−5.3) |
−20.6 (−5.1) |
−14.0 (6.8) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
2.1 (35.8) |
4.5 (40.1) |
3.4 (38.1) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
−11.3 (11.7) |
−19.3 (−2.7) |
−20.7 (−5.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 89.7 (3.53) |
81.2 (3.20) |
85.0 (3.35) |
86.6 (3.41) |
107.9 (4.25) |
97.5 (3.84) |
88.8 (3.50) |
96.1 (3.78) |
100.7 (3.96) |
111.7 (4.40) |
106.5 (4.19) |
105.3 (4.15) |
1,157 (45.55) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.8 | 11.4 | 11.1 | 10.4 | 12.6 | 9.9 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 9.3 | 12.1 | 12.5 | 13.9 | 136.2 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
87 | 82 | 77 | 74 | 77 | 77 | 75 | 78 | 82 | 87 | 87 | 88 | 81 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 68.4 | 96.8 | 152.8 | 183.8 | 203.0 | 230.8 | 248.7 | 237.2 | 183.6 | 131.6 | 74.9 | 56.2 | 1,872.5 |
Source 1: | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (relative humidity 1961–1990)[13] |
Neighborhoods
|
- La Boucle
- Battant
- Bregille
- Les Clairs-Soleils
- Velotte
- La Butte
- Les Chaprais
- Palente
- Les Tilleroyes
- Montrapon
- Planoise
- Saint-Claude
- Saint-Ferjeux
- Chailluz
Population
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 km2 (204.1 sq mi), 68 municipalities and has a population of 197,494. The metropolitan area covers 2,514.5 km2 (970.9 sq mi), 310 municipalities and has 283,127 inhabitants.[3] Its population increased by 4.9% between 2008 and 2020.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: EHESS[14] and INSEE (1968–2021)[15][16] |
Government and politics
Until 2016, Besançon was the capital of the Franche-Comté administrative région of France, a région including the four départements of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Jura and Territoire de Belfort. Franche-Comté was since merged with the neighbouring region of Burgundy, and the "préfecture" was transferred to the city of Dijon. However, Besançon remains the seat of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regional council and of various decentralised administrations such as the regional offices of the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) or the Centre régional des œuvres universitaires et scolaires (Crous).
Mayor of the City of Besançon is
Economy
The city is known for its microtechnology and watch industries.[6] It is host of the biannual Micronora trade fair, one of Europe's major events in the field of microtechnologies.[17] The city has a little-known specialty, automatic ticketing machines for car parking, airports, date stamping etc.
The watch industry, for which Besançon remains the French capital, endured a major crisis in the 1970s when the advent of quartz watches from Asia knocked out the traditional watch industry in the space of just a few years. The
Since the 1980s, Besançon's watch industry has clawed its way back on the basis of its historic reputation and quartz watches, establishing itself in a number of niche markets including customized watches, high quality watches, and fashion articles. Since the 1990s, the town has developed a reputation as one of France's leading centres of technology in all fields, including telecommunications and biotechnology.
Education
Besançon is the seat of the
Landmarks
The most historic center of the town is characterised by the broad horse-shoe of the river Doubs, "la Boucle", which encircles the old town.
Gallo-Roman remains
During Antiquity, Vesontio was an important metropolis of Roman Gaul. It is adorned with monuments, some of which have survived, archaeological excavations carried out during construction sites often revealing new discoveries dating from this period.
The most emblematic and best-preserved monument dating from this period is the
On the other bank of the river Doubs, in the Battant district, the remains of the Vesontio arena are visible: only a few steps and foundations have been unearthed, its stones having been widely used in the Middle Ages for the construction of other buildings.
There are several domus in the residential district of Vesontio. Among them, the domus of the Palace of Justice and the domus of the Lumière college with Roman mosaic exhibited in situ at the Besançon Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology. Other remains can be seen in more anonymous places, such as the ancient foundations in the underground car park of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regional council.
-
The Porte Noire, Roman triumphal arch
-
Square Castan.
-
Promenade Micaud.
Fortifications and military buildings
Most of the current fortification system (
The citadel of Besançon was built by Vauban from 1678 to 1771 and is the most visited site in Franche-Comté with more than 250,000 visitors each year. It extends over eleven hectares at the top of Mont Saint-Étienne at an altitude between 330 and 370 meters, thus overhanging the meander of the river Doubs which has an altitude between 240 and 250 meters. It brings together a museum of Resistance and Deportation, a museum of Franche-Comté traditions, the regional archeology service and a zoo. It is the symbol of the city. Fort Griffon, whose name is that of the Italian architect Jean Griffoni who was commissioned to build a first fortification at this location in 1595, is a second citadel. It was Vauban who, at the end of the 17th century, had the current fort built.
The city walls designed by Vauban includes all the fortifications of La Boucle historic district which were rebuilt from 1675 to 1695. Vauban in fact replaced the medieval defenses restored and completed by Charles V in the sixteenth century with a belt provided with six bastioned battery towers : the Notre-Dame tower, the bastioned tower of Chamars, the bastioned tower of the Marais, the bastioned tower of the Cordeliers (completed in 1691), the bastioned tower of Bregille and the bastioned tower of Rivotte.
-
Citadel of Besançon.
-
Porte Rivotte.
-
Tour de la Pelote.
-
Tour de Chamars.
Fortifications prior to the French conquest are also numerous. The Tour de la Pelote, located on the Quai de Strasbourg, is a defensive tower built in 1546 by the municipal government on the orders of Charles V. Its name would come from the former owner of the land where it was built, Pierre Pillot, lord of Chenecey. The Porte Rivotte is a city gate dating from the 16th century, consisting of two round towers and a pediment carved with a sun which was King Louis XIV's personal emblem. The Porte Taillée ("Carved Gate"), opened in a rocky outcrop, is the work of the Romans. It marks the entrance to the city on the road to Switzerland. It is surmounted by a guardhouse and a watchtower built in 1546. The “square tower”, located in the promenade des Glacis, is also called the Montmart tower. It was built in the 13th century to defend the old entrance to the Battant district.
The fortifications of the 19th century consist of a set of forts covering all the heights of the city: the fort of Chaudanne built from 1837 to 1842, the fort of Bregille built from 1820 to 1832, the fort of Planoise built from 1877 to 1880, Fort Benoit was built from 1877 to 1880, Fort Beauregard in 1830.
Another example are the Trois-Châtels and Tousey lunettes, both built at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as the Rosemont battery built during the war of 1870–1871, the Fort des Montboucons built from 1877 to 1880 and the Fort des Justices built from 1870. A third Lunette d'Arçon was located on the site of Fort Chaudanne; only its tower was preserved during the construction of the fort in the first half of the 19th century.
The Ruty barracks, formerly Saint-Paul barracks, are made up of four pavilions surrounding a courtyard serving as a Place d'Armes and dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. It currently houses the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division and the 7th Armoured Brigade.
Places of worship
After the city acquired an
built at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.The most important religious building dedicated to Catholic worship in Besançon is
At the other end of the old
-
St. John's Cathedral.
-
St. John's Cathedral.
-
Sainte-Madeleine Church.
-
Saint-Ferjeux Basilica.
-
Notre-Dame-du-Foyer Chapel.
In the heart of the city centre, St Peter's Church, built by the Bisontin Claude Joseph Alexandre Bertrand from 1782 to 1786, impresses with the height of its bell tower which served as a belfry for the town hall which is opposite. St Maurice's Church, founded in the 6th century, was rebuilt from 1711 to 1714 with a Jesuit-style facade surmounted by a carillon. Notre-Dame Church corresponds to the former Benedictine abbey of Saint-Vincent which was founded in the eleventh century. It was under the Empire that it became the parish church of Notre-Dame. Its facade was designed in 1720 by the architect Jean-Pierre Galezot. You can still make out the large entrance gate to the abbey and the 16th-century bell tower. Today it is occupied by the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences. Saint-François-Xavier Church, former chapel of the Jesuit college, was built between 1680 and 1688. Its plan is in the shape of a Latin cross surrounded by small side chapels. It was decommissioned in 1975. The Saint-Paul abbey, church of the former abbey founded around 628 by Saint Donat, archbishop of Besançon, was rebuilt in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Notre-Dame-du-Foyer chapel, built from 1739 to 1745 by the Bisontin Nicolas Nicole, was once the chapel of the Couvent du Refuge before being attached to the Saint-Jacques hospital in 1802.
Outside the old town, among the important Catholic buildings, is the Saint-Ferjeux basilica of Romano-Byzantine style built on the cave of the patron saints of Besançon, Saint Ferjeux and Saint Ferréol. Notre-Dame des Buis, a 19th-century chapel, overlooks the city at an altitude of 491 metres.
The Protestant community was assigned in 1842 the former hospice of the Holy Spirit, today the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is a 13th-century Gothic building augmented by a 15th-century chapel and deprived of its bell tower during the Revolution. It is distinguished by its gallery of sculpted wood, a masterpiece by an anonymous artist. Its neo-Gothic portal was created in 1841 by the architect Alphonse Delacroix in place of the old porch.
The Jewish community, booming in the city in the middle of the 19th century, built the synagogue of Besançon from 1869 to 1871 on plans by the architect Pierre Marnotte. Listed as a historic monument in 1984, it is particularly remarkable for its Moorish style inspired by the Alhambra in Granada.
The most recently built places of worship in Besançon are of Muslim faith: the Sounna Mosque built at the end of the 20th century on land ceded by the city in the Saint-Claude district, and the Al-Fath located in the district of Planoise.
Government and residentials buildings
In the
Immediately after the French conquest, the installations were mainly of a military nature. However, two other notable constructions were erected at the end of the 17th century. Work on the Saint-Jacques hospital, which was intended to replace the one located on rue d'Arènes, began in 1688 and was completed in 1701. Its monumental entrance gate, executed by the locksmith Nicolas Chapuis in 1703 has been replaced by a copy. The Vauban Quay was built from 1691 to 1695 by the engineer Isaac Robelin. It is a monumental set of houses with arcades.
-
Palais Granvelle.
-
Former Saint-Jacques hospital.
-
Town Hall.
-
Hôtel Mareschal.
-
Vauban Quay.
During the
If the thermal baths of Besançon were completely destroyed in the 1950s, the city retains a number of buildings emblematic of its thermal past: the Grand Hôtel des Bains inaugurated in 1893, the municipal casino installed in a Belle Époque-style building inaugurated in 1882 or the Kursaal opened in 1893. It was also during this period that the astronomical observatory and the Café du Commerce were erected, a brasserie from the second half of the 19th century with a rich interior decor in the Belle Époque style.
-
The Kursaal.
-
Grand Hôtel des Bains.
-
Casino.
-
Brasserie du Commerce.
-
The observatory.
Besançon's specialization in watchmaking has also left its mark on the city's heritage. The astronomical clock located inside St. John's cathedral was commissioned in 1858 by Cardinal Mathieu from Auguste-Lucien Vérité. Composed of 30,000 mechanical parts, 57 dials and presenting 122 all interdependent indications, it is considered a masterpiece of its kind and classified as a Historic Monument in 1991. The National School of Watchmaking was built from 1928 to 1932 by the architect Paul Guadet. This imposing Art Deco building with a monumental clock on its facade now houses the Lycée Jules-Haag. The Dodane watch factory, completed in 1943, is an L-shaped reinforced concrete building whose construction was entrusted to the architect Auguste Perret who also designed the interior decor elements. It has a private garden with swimming pool and tennis court. In the twenty-first century, two monumental clocks, works by Bisontin Philippe Lebru from the Utinam workshop, were installed on the facade of the Besançon Museum of Fine Arts and inside the Besançon Franche-Comté TGV station.
In addition to the watchmaking heritage, other buildings with notable architecture were built during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Canot university campus was built from 1929 by the architect René Tournier and inaugurated by the President of the Republic Albert Lebrun in 1933. It was the first university residence in France. The Higher Institute of Fine Arts was built between 1970 and 1974 to plans by the Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert. The Cité des Arts inaugurated in 2013 is the work of the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.
Parks and gardens
With 5,950 acres (9.30 sq mi; 24.1 km2) of
-
Jardins de la Gare d'Eau.
-
Promenade Chamars.
-
Promenade Micaud.
-
Promenade Granvelle.
North of the historic district of Battant, on the right bank of the River Doubs, the Glacis Promenade, created in the middle of the nineteenth century, is the work of the landscape architect Brice Michel and the architect Boutterin. Right in the heart of this district, the Clos Barbisier is a garden created in 1988 and presenting an important variety of roses. The green belt extends east of the old town, still on the right bank of the River Doubs, by the Promenade of Helvetia which houses a botanical garden called Jardin des Sens et des Senteurs (Garden of Senses and Scents) realized in 1987, accessible to the visually impaired thanks to its plants and shrubs with certain sensory features (smell, touch), and Braille signs. Directly to the south is the Micaud Promenade, which has been progressively developed over 7 acres (0.011 sq mi; 0.028 km2) from 1843 on plans by architect Alphonse Delacroix. It is named after Jules Micaud, the mayor who promoted the project. It includes more than four hundred trees, including a southern magnolia and a European beech, a bandstand, a pond, and several sculptures. The Jardins du Casino, a public garden with flowering lawns and tree-lined avenues, is directly on the other side of Edouard Droz Avenue, which runs along Micaud Promenade.
In the heart of the historic center, the Promenade Granvelle is the former private garden of the sixteenth century Granvelle Palace, which the municipality acquired in 1712 and which was opened to the public in 1728. The architect Bertrand redeveloped it into a public garden from 1775 to 1778. It includes a bandstand, an artificial cave, a Wallace fountain, statues of Victor Hugo and Auguste Veil-Picard, the portal of the church of the convent of the Great Carmelites, and a neoclassical colonnade, a remnant of a refreshment pavilion. The first botanical garden in Besançon was created in 1580. It then occupied more than ten different sites, including the current location of Place Leclerc since 1957. The Parc de l'Observatoire, created in 1904 at the request of the director of the astronomical observatory Auguste Lebeuf, is home to a purple beech, a weeping beech, chestnut and pine trees.
A statue of
Culture
Museums and galleries
There are five museums in Besançon that all bear the designation "
In the 1960s the architect
The Musée du Temps (Museum of Time), inaugurated in 2002, was formerly the City's History Museum. Located in the Granvelle Palace, its concept is unique in Europe, grouping watch collections (watches, sundials, hourglasses, all means of measuring time ...) and the funds of the history museum (paintings, engravings). In addition, three museums are grouped inside the Vauban citadel.
The Museum of Resistance and Deportation has been open since 1971 and is one of the largest in its category at the national level. It consists of twenty rooms, retracing the themes related to the Second World War (Nazism, the Occupation, the
The Comtois Museum, installed in 1961 in the Royal Front, presents regional arts and traditions through sixteen permanent exhibition halls with collections of more than 20,000 objects, mainly from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Museum of Natural History, created in 1959 under the leadership of Mayor Jean Minjoz, presents varied backgrounds in a small evolutionary course around collections of natural sciences (naturalized animals, herbaria ...); it also presents live animals in four sectors (zoo, insectarium, noctarium and aquarium). Besançon is also home to the birthplace of Victor Hugo, presenting the humanist political commitment of the writer. The Cité des Arts exhibits part of the works of the regional fund of contemporary art of Franche-Comté.
Performing arts centers
The city is home to a National Center for Dramatic Art, the Centre dramatique national Besançon Franche-Comté created in 1972. This theater installed in the former ballroom of the Casino has a capacity of 337 seats. The Scène nationale de Besançon performs since 2012 in two facilities including the Théâtre de l'Espace and the Théâtre Ledoux. The Théâtre Ledoux was inaugurated in 1784 and can accommodate 1100 people. Besançon also has smaller structures. The Scénacle located in the Saint-Jean district is a small theater with a capacity of about 100 seats that offers plays and concerts by the troupe or regional artists. On campus, the 150-seat Petit Théâtre de la Bouloie welcomes student projects to promote artistic and cultural practice (university theater, university choir...), artistic residencies of young companies, professional shows proposed by the partner structures and shows of young companies.
The Kursaal is the result of the will to offer entertainment and shows to spa guests of the spa resort of Besançon-les-Bains created in 1891 and military garrison in the city. The Kursaal-Circus opened at the end of 1893, but the promoter's finances, Madame Veuve Pellegrin, did not allow her to reimburse the expenses incurred. The city acquired it in 1895 and the Kursaal became the city's
Bands play throughout the year at La Rodia, located in the Prés-de-Vaux neighborhood. It includes a large 900-seat theater and a 330-seat "club" hall as well as two creative studios. The Micropolis Exhibition Center houses a modular hall with a capacity of 2,200 to 6,500 seats, where the majority of artists and bands on national and international tours are performing.
The city is home to the Victor Hugo Franche-Comté Orchestra.
Cinema
There are two
Annual cultural events and fairs
The city of Besançon hosts many festive and cultural events.
Several music festivals punctuate the year, the most emblematic and the oldest of which is the
The Festival Détonation is another highlight of September: created in 2012 and organized by La Rodia, its programming mixes pop music, electronic music and interactive mapping installations.
Initiated in 2007, the GéNéRiQ Festival takes place in February in five cities: Belfort, Besançon, Dijon, Montbéliard and Mulhouse. Its programming is also focused on new musical trends such as electro clubbing, mediterranean surf, free metal, electro blues, alternative hip hop or neo ghetto folk.
Created in 1981, the Jazz and improvised music festival in Franche-Comté offers concerts in Besançon and other towns in the region in June.
The Circasismic Festival, held in May since 2015, presents a program of electro, dub and rock music as well as circus and street theater shows.
The Orgue en ville festival, created in 2009, offers about twenty concerts around the organ in religious buildings of Besançon and its agglomeration. It takes place between the end of June and the beginning of July.
The Besançon-Montfaucon Festival offers musical works played on
The Foire Comtoise is a trade fair and a travelling funfair held in the Micropolis exhibition center. This event created in 1922 was originally an agricultural fair. It now hosts around 600 exhibitors and 140,000 visitors around the Feast of the Ascension weekend. Each year, a country or a community is a guest of honor and presents its crafts and its customs and traditions through shows.
Since 1995, the Gourmet Instants market has been held on the Granvelle Promenade in September and showcases local gastronomic products.
The Christmas market in Besançon has been spreading throughout December since 1993, while a carnival parade has been held since 1978, bringing together 20,000 to 30,000 people each year in the streets of the city center.
The Grand Besançon Métropole book festival (Livres dans la Boucle) take place in September. Running over three days, it hosted in 2018 more than 200 authors and 30,000 visitors.
An African cinema festival called Lumières d'Afrique has been held in November since 1996.
Bien Urbain is a manifestation of street art and contemporary art in the public space held in June since 2011.
In the field of theater, Besançon has two festivals. The Festival de Caves has been offering shows since 2006 in the cellars of the city. Born in Besançon, the concept of this festival has since spread in many cities in France and Europe.
Since 2018, the Festival of World Languages and Cultures has been the heir to the International University Theater Meetings, which celebrated their 25th edition in 2017.
Media
- Radio BIP. Originally operating as a pirate radio station from 1977 to 1978, refounded in 1981 as a "free radio".
- South radio. Created in 1982 for the Algerian and Arab community.
- Radio Shalom Besançon. Radio of the Jewish Communauty of Besançon.
- RCF Besançon. Local edition of RCF, for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Besançon.
- Radio Campus Besançon. Local edition of Radio Campus France, for students.
- France Bleu Besançon. Local edition of France Bleu, generalist.
- France 3 Franche-Comté. Public TV.
- L'Est Républicain. Newspaper.
Sports
The practice of sport in the agglomeration of Besançon is quite diverse, on the one hand because the municipality does not want to bet everything on one or two professional disciplines that would carry the colors of the city high, but rather to encourage its population to practice all disciplines, and on the other hand because the particular setting of the city (hills, cliffs, rivers) makes it possible to practice a wide range of outdoor sports such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing, rowing.
Sports venues
The
Professional teams and sportspeople
In the field of team sports, the city is currently represented at the national level mainly in the discipline of
In football, the city has two clubs playing in Championnat National 3, the fifth tier in the French football league system : Racing Besançon (RB) and Besançon Football (BF).
Basketball is present with the Besançon Avenir Comtois (BesAC) club, playing in Championnat de Nationale 3, fifth tier in the French basketball league system. Former Besançon BCD, now defunct, played nine seasons in the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France and counted Bruce Bowen, Tanoka Beard and Tony Farmer among its most famous players.
In the field of individual sports at professional and amateur level, the city stands out in boxing with Olympic medalist Khedafi Djelkhir, wrestling with Olympic medalist Ghani Yalouz, archery with Jean-Charles Valladont several times medalist at the World and European championship and silver medalist at the Rio Olympics, judo, cycling (Amicale Cycliste Bisontine), weightlifting (La Française de Besançon) or canoeing (Société Nautique Bisontine, 2nd club French). Besançon also hosts the Franche-Comté Judo Besançon club with 90 national podiums, 50 French Champion titles in all categories and 20 European and world podiums.
Sport events
Grand Besançon Métropole is organizing from 2019 a festival called Grandes Heures Nature devoted to outdoor sports such as hiking, trail running, canoeing, climbing, mountain biking and road cycling. It takes place over four days during the month of June. The city of Besançon is a regular stage city in the Tour de France bicycle race, which it hosted 18 times between 1903 and 2018. The Besançon Trail des Forts has been taking place since 2004 every year in May and offers four trail running races of 48, 28, 19 and 10 kilometers, the longest course being registered among the ten stages of the National Trail Tour.
Transport
Road
Besançon is situated at the crossing of two major lines of communication, the NE-SW route that follows the valley of the river Doubs and links Germany and North Europe with Lyon and southwest Europe, and the N–S route linking northern France and the Netherlands with Switzerland. The city is served by the A36 motorway, which connects the German border with Burgundy.
Rail
Besançon is well connected with the rest of France by train. One can reach major destinations such as
.- Gare de Besançon-Viotte, the main railway station, sits in the centre of the city.
- Gare de Besançon Franche-Comté TGVis the high speed railway station and it sits some 10 km (6 mi) north of the city.
Tram
A
Bus
Bus services in Besançon and its suburbs are run by the Ginko company. It runs 58 bus lines and its fleet has about 240 buses. The network serves the 68 municipalities of the urban community.
Notable people
Besançon was the birthplace of:
- Claude Goudimel (1510–1572), musician, teacher of Palestrina, composer of Protestant hymns.[19]
- Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517–1586), cardinal, statesman and humanist.[20]
- Jean-Jacques Boissard (1528–1602), an antiquary and Neo-Latin poet.[21]
- Jean-Baptiste Besard (1567 – ca.1625), lawyer, Doctor of Medicine and composer for the lute
- Jean Mairet (1604–1686), dramatist.[22]
- Jean-Baptiste Boisot (1638–1694), abbot and scholar
- Michel Blavet (1700–1768), flutist, composer
- phalansteries" (a self-contained utopian community building for 500–2000 people).[23]
- Jean Joseph Antoine de Courvoisier (1775–1835), magistrate and politician.[24]
- Charles-Étienne-François Ruty (1777–1828), comte, general, peer—commissioned into the army in 1793 and promoted to lt. general in 1813
- Charles Weiss (1779–1866), librarian and bibliographer
- Charles Nodier (1780–1844), writer. Leader of the Romantic movement.[25]
- Claude Louis Séraphin Barizain (1783–1843), a French actor, known as Monrose.[26]
- Jean Claude Eugène Péclet (1793–1857), physicist, gave his name to the Péclet number
- Victor Hugo (1802–1885), poet, dramatist and romance-writer.[27]
- Charles de Bernard (1804–1850), a French writer.[28]
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), politician, economist and author, theorist of anarchism.[29]
- Adolphe Braun (1812–1877), early photographer
- Hilaire de Chardonnet (1838–1924), inventor of artificial silk
- Hippolyte Langlois (1839–1912), a French general, he wrote on military science.[30]
- Alfred Nicolas Rambaud (1842–1905), a French historian.[31]
- Henry Aron (1842–1885), journalist[32]
- Louis-Jean Résal (1854–1920), engineer who built the Pont Mirabeau and the Pont Alexandre III in Paris
- Auguste and Louis Lumière (1862–1954) and (1864–1948), inventors of cinematography
- Émile Scaremberg (1863–1938), tenor
- Tristan Bernard (1866–1947), journalist and humorist
- Albert Seitz (1872–1937), composer and violist
- Marie-Louise Paris (1889–1969), French engineer who founded the Women's Polytechnic
- Ludovic Arrachart (1897–1933), aviator
- Gabriel Plançon (1916–1943), French Resistance fighter.
- Georges Petetin (1920–2012), painter and sculptor
- Viviane Wade (born 1932), First Lady of Senegal (2000–2012)
- Bernard Blum (1938–2014), agronomist and founder of IBMA and ABIM
- Philippe Bender (born 1942), flutist and conductor
- Raymond Blanc (born 1949), chef
- Maurice Clerc (born 1949), mathematician
- Arnaud Courlet de Vregille (born 1958), painter
- Philippe Berta (born 1960), MP
- Olivier Maire (1960–2021), assassinated Catholic priest
- Sylvie Mamy (born ca.1965), musicologist
- Thomas Paris (born 1970), author
- Gaspard Augé (born 1979), one half of electronic music duo Justice
Sport
- Lucien Laurent (1907–2005), footballer
- Jean de Gribaldy (1922–1987), professional racing cyclist and directeur sportif
- Morrade Hakkar (born 1972), boxer
- Cyril Kali (born 1984), footballer
- Yohann Lasimant (born 1989), footballer
and
- King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (born 1967) is the Lord of Besançon.
Literary references
- Julius Caesar, in his account Commentarii de Bello Gallico gives a description of the antique city of Besançon, named Vesontio (first book, section 38):
[1.38] When he had proceeded three days' journey, word was brought to him that Ariovistus was hastening with all his forces to seize on Vesontio, which is the largest town of the Sequani, and had advanced three days' journey from its territories. Caesar thought that he ought to take the greatest precautions lest this should happen, for there was in that town a most ample supply of every thing which was serviceable for war; and so fortified was it by the nature of the ground, as to afford a great facility for protracting the war, inasmuch as the river Doubs almost surrounds the whole town, as though it were traced round it with a pair of compasses. A mountain of great height shuts in the remaining space, which is not more than 600 feet (180 m), where the river leaves a gap, in such a manner that the roots of that mountain extend to the river's bank on either side. A wall thrown around it makes a citadel of this [mountain], and connects it with the town.
- Gary Jennings's novel Raptor, which takes place in the 5th century AD, describes Vesontio lavishly.
- In Le rouge et le noir, Julien Sorel, the main character, studies for a while at the Catholic seminaryat Besançon (first book, chapters 24 to 30):
Eventually he saw the white walls beyond the distant mountain; it was the citadel of Besançon. "What a difference", he said, sighing, "if I could come into this fine city as a sub-lieutenant of one of these regiments of the post." Besançon is not only one of the prettiest cities in France, but it abounds in brave and intelligent men. Julien, however, was only a little peasant, without any means of approaching distinguished personages.
- In the poem This century was two years old (Les Feuilles d'automne; literally – "The Leaves of Autumn"), Victor Hugo evokes his birth in Besançon:
This century was two years old. Rome was replacing Sparta;
Already Napoleon was emerging from under Bonaparte.
And already the First Consul's tight mask
Had been split in several places by the Emperor's brow.
It was then that in Besançon, that old Spanish town,
Cast like a seed into the flying wind,
A child was born of mixed blood—Breton and Lorraine—
Pallid, blind and mute,...
That child, whom Life was scratching from its book,
And who had not another day to live,
Was me.
- Julian Barnes's novel A History of the World in 10+1⁄2 Chapters features as chapter 3: "Wars of Religion"—a fictional manuscript reportedly from the Archives Municipales de Besançon.
- Balzac's novel Albert Savaron takes place in Besançon.
- Colonel Sainte-Hermine, the fictional hero of Alexandre Dumas' The Last Cavalier, is a native of Besançon.
The Christmas carol "Berger, Secoue Ton Sommeil Profond", known in English as "Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep" originated in Besançon in the 17th century.
Twin towns – sister cities
Besançon is
- Bielsko-Biała, Poland
- Bistriţa, Romania
- Charlottesville, United States
- Douroula, Burkina Faso
- Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Hadera, Israel
- Kirklees, England, United Kingdom
- Kuopio, Finland
- Man, Ivory Coast
- Matsumae, Japan
- Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Pavia, Italy
- Tver, Russia
See also
- Communes of the Doubs department
- List of works by James Pradier
- Battle of Besançon
- Protestantism in Besançon
- Centre-Chapelle des Buis
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ . Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "Besançon". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020.
- ^ "Besançon". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ Considering surface green spaces per inhabitant, Numbers available on the encyclopedia site Quid, at the bottom of the page Archived 9 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Fortifications of Vauban". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Strabo, Geography 4.3.2
- ^ Shakespeare, Nicholas (2013) Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France. (Harvill Secker).
- ^ "Climatological Information for Besançon, France". Meteo France. 14 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ "Besançon (25)" (PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1991–2020 et records (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ "Normes et records 1961–1990: Besançon – altitude 307m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Besançon, EHESS (in French).
- ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- ^ Populations légales 2021, INSEE
- ^ "Microtechnology, high precision, nanotechnology trade fair". Micronora. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ "Institut Supérieur d'Ingénieurs de Franche-Comté (Besançon) web site". Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 280–281. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 361–362. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 154. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 445. .
- ^ Adamson, Robert (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). pp. 751–752.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 329–330. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 731. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 739. .
- ^ Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). pp. 862–864.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 798. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 489–490. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 177. .
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 872–873. .
- ^ Dupré, Romain (February 2013). "Henri, dit Henry, Aron, professeur, publiciste, directeur du Journal officiel". Archives Juives, Revue d'histoire des Juifs de France, Vol. 46, pp. 136–140. Retrieved 24 January 2016 (subscription required for full access) (in French).
- ^ "Besançon, ville ouverte au monde". grandbesancon.fr (in French). Besançon. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
Bibliography
External links
- Official website (in French)