Monuments to visit Besançon

By entering this cour, you have been transported to another era, and this particular hotel, with its beautiful façade, inscribed in historical monuments since 1966, decorated with accolades and the last four gargoyles of Besançon, dates from the th century. His yard is a «traje» (passage) allowing from the Battant Street to join Fort Griffon. Here you can admire open, superimposed galleries with Doric, corinthian and ionic columns, as well as centre of colour. In order to perfect the visit, you can even enjoy lunch in the restaurant Le Champagney which has now been installed there.

Built by Auguste Lucien Vérité, at the request of Archbishop Mathieu, in the 19th century, the Besançon astronomical clock is a small jewel of technicality and precision. More than 30,000 parts, 11 movements, 57 dials providing more than 122 interdependent indications, on the calendar, moon phases, eclipses, tides... Depending on the time and date, the clock comes to life in a mechanical broom and reveals small scenes inspired by the Bible before your eyes, including at noon the resurrection of Christ.

The presence of a kursaal (holiday room for the curistes of the water towns) in Besançon shows quite well the Germanic influence of the neighbouring regions and recalls that the city was once a thermal destination. Built in 1892, the Kursaal now hosts theatre and film programming, balls, fashion shows… in a charming showroom.

Thanks to its fortifications, since 2008 Besançon has been registered as A UNESCO World Heritage Site and is now part of the «Vauban Major Sites Network», with 18 buildings to discover through the city. In addition to the famous citadel, the forts and vestiges of ramparts testify to the importance of the city fortifications. The different bastions are positioned around the loop of Doubs, thus forming a parade against any possible attack. Finally on the heights of the Battant quarter and the Station, other buildings allowed to take up the height to monitor the city. A hiking route map is available at the tourist office.

Connecting the city centre to the historic quarter of the same name, the Battant Bridge is located on the Grand-Rue axis. Once Roman way joining the provinces of Italy, it was a long bridge to cross the Doubs river. The stone building dating back to the Roman era was partially destroyed during the Second World war and today only the base of a pillar remains. On the left bank you can admire the unique architectural ensemble of the Vauban quay, which is crowned by the arcades of its th century houses.

The town hall of Besançon was completed in 1573 after almost two centuries of récurentes changes. Proud and royal, above its porch, you can admire the eagle of Besançon with both columns. On the right, the vast niche contained, until the Revolution, a bronze fountain representing Charles Quint overlapping a two-legged eagle; it is still surmounted by the motto «And to God». Finally, you can note that, on the embossed facade, the architect made the blue and beige veins of the besancon stone alterner to show graphic lines.

It was built from 1778 to 1784, at the instigation of intendant Ch.-A. de Lacoré, on the plans of Claude Nicolas Ledoux, the architect of the royal saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. Only the facade remained intact, with the precious Louis XVI interior missing in a fire in 1958.

A former door of the city built in the th century, it is located at the foot of the citadel, and opens naturally on the Faubourg Rivotte. This is the only city door still in place, and you will notice the sun engraved on the pediment in tribute to Louis XIV. Along the Pontarlier road, we see the Carved door, opened in the rock by the Romans to pass the aqueduct of Arcier feeding the city into water.

Located behind the city hall, which was formerly a body with him, the courthouse, built in 1585, is the work of the architect Mannerist Hugues Sambin. Above the porch, closed by a beautiful entrance grid of 1861, two statues represent Justice and the Force. Inside, the former parliament hall of Franche-Comté, adorned with beautiful 1909 th-century woodwork and a ceiling painted by P. Gervais in, became the formal courtroom.

A former building building, this building was built between 1770 and 1778 on the plans of Frignier and Victor Louis led by Comtois Nicolas Nicole at the request of the new administrator Ch.-A. Lacoré, friend of Voltaire and Aesthetic. The main façade retains some austerity, unlike the garden side organized around a small rotunda with a dome. Inside, very beautiful ensemble of lambris of the Louis XVI.

Originally, this building is a house of Canon, depending on the chapter of Saint John Cathedral. He became the residence of Antoine Pierre de Grammont, Archbishop of Besançon in the th century. From succession within the family to sale to an individual and to the municipality, the'is transformed into a school and then in boarding schools. Finally acquired by the Regional Council at the beginning of the 1980 s, the latter makes arrangements respecting the historical character of the different rooms and settled there in 1984.