Novotel - Besancon

Just walk. Walk around the...

by Martin_B

Just walk. Walk around the city with thoses pedestrians street only. The atmosphere is very relax there and it seems that everybody is on vacation. You can walk all around the city by follow the doubs ; it's so beautiful.

Palais de Justice

by Loeffle

The Palais de Justice lies behind the Hôtel de Ville (and therefore a bit hidden) and was once part of the same building. It was built in 1585 by the architect Hugues Sambin.

Above the porch, enclosed by beautiful wrought-iron gates , stand two statues representing Justice and Strength.

Inside the building, the room once occupied by the Parliament of Franche-Comté, is decorated with exquisite Louis XV woodwork and a ceiling painted by P. Gervais in 1909.

La Citadelle

by himalia11

The citadel was designed by Vauban for Louis XIV and was build between 1674 and 1711. I have to admit that I hadn't heard the name Vauban before, but suddenly I came across it pretty often. The citadel together with some other Vauban fortifications were recently added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The citadel today houses several museums - the Musuem of the Resistance and the Deoportation, Franche-Comté Museum, insectarium, ecological aquarium, noctarium and musuem of natural history. I assume you'll need to spend quite a lot of time there to visit it all!

Admission: adults 7,20 € or 7,80 €, depending on season.

The opening times vary in the different months, please check their homepage. Museums closed on Tuesdays.

La Citadelle de Vauban is one...

by exotique18

La Citadelle de Vauban is one of the most important place that you should vidit in Besancon.There are many museums in it such as art museum' musee de la Resistance de la Deportation and there is zoologic park.

Hidden treasures of Besançon in Franche-Comté

by Loeffle

"Capital of France-Comté"

The origins of Besançon go back to Roman Age. It's strategic location on the loops of the Doubs River was already discovered by Romans. But the region was only in Roman hands for a couple of centuries before native tribes took over. But nevertheless there's even some Roman architecture left in Besançon.

Throughout history the town (as the whole region) was an important border bastion in the East of France. But actually the town became Spanish for some decades. Until the 19th century there was only one bridge over the Doubs river.

Until that time only the inner part of the Doubs peninsula was settled. The parts closer to water were swamplands. Vauban who built the French Eastern defence in the 17th and 18th century choose the rocky hill as location for one of his masterpiece fortifications: the Besançon Citadel.

Vauban is gone, German-French border wars are gone, but the Citadel is still there, and definetely Besançon's main attraction. It has been restored to a remarkably high standard and hosts almost ten museums and exhibtions.

Besides Besançon is a lively university town with some 120,000 inhabitants with some nice hidden treasures. Might be a good place to visit in combination with Belfort and Dijon, both towns are less than an hour away.