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Besançon

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Besançon
File:Citadelle de Besancon.JPG
Citadel Vauban of Besançon
Location of
Map
CountryFrance
Government
 • MayorJean-Louis Fousseret (PS)
Population
114,900
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)

Besançon (French: Besançon, pronounced /(bəz.'ãsɔ̃)/; German: Bisanz) is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté région of northeastern France, with approximately 220,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 1999. Located close to the border with Switzerland, it is the préfecture (capital) of the Doubs département.

History

For the ecclesiastical history, see Archbishopric of Besançon

Ancient history

As recorded in the journals of Julius Caesar about his conquests of Gaul, the Latin name of the city that was surrounded by a wooden picket was Vesontio. The name permutated over time 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).

Middle Ages

As part of the Holy Roman Empire since 1034, the city becomes the Archbishopric of Besançon, and is granted the status of Free Imperial City with autonomy in 1184. In 1157, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa held an Imperial Diet (Reichstag) in Bisanz. There, cardinal Orlando Bandinelli (future pope Alexander II, then adviser of Pope Adrian IV), who openly asserted before Emperor Frederick Barbarossa that the imperial dignity was a papal beneficium (in the more general sense of favour, not the strict feudal sense of fief), which incurred the wrath of the German princes. He would have fallen on the spot under the battle-axe of his life-long foe, Otto of Wittelsbach, had Frederick not intervened; the Imperial chancellor Rainald of Dassel then inaugurated a German policy which insisted upon the rights and the power of the German kings, the strengthening of the Church in the German Empire, the lordship of Italy and the humiliation of the papacy. The archbishops were elevated to prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1288. The close connection to the Empire is reflected by the city's coat of arms.

Renaissance

In the 15th century, Besançon came under the influence of the dukes of Burgundy. After the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, the city was in effect a Habsburg fief, which took it from Austrian to Spanish influence. In 1526 the city obtained the right to mint coins. It continued to strike coins until 1673. Nevertheless, all coins are in the name of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Spaniards originally built the main defense complex, "la Citadelle" from 1668, following a design by the French military architect Vauban. In 1674 French troops took the city and Vauban himself got to upgrade its fortifications, which took some 30 years. At the Treaty of Nijmegen the city was awarded to France.

Surrounding the central city are walls built in that era, and between the train station and the central city is a complex moat system through which traffic has been directed. All of these fortifications are built with Vauban's classic star points. Surrounding the city a large number of fortifications were built at the time of Vauban, including the Fort de Trois Châtels, Fort Chaudanne, Fort du Petit Chaudanne, Fort Griffon, Fort des Justices, Fort Beauregard and Fort de Brégille, but the crown jewel of these is la Citadelle.

Built upon a mountaintop, bounded by sheer cliffs on one side, the Doubs river on the others, and the Boucle or Shield, the city centre surrounded by the Doubs, giving it a fantastic defensive stance. Upon this hilltop, Vauban built the largest of his structures in the region. The Citadelle has a dual dry moat, with an outer and inner court. In the evenings, the Citadelle is illuminated and stands above the city as a landmark and a crowning achievement to Vauban's ingenuity.

Modern Europe

The Citadelle was used by the Nazis during World War II. Nevertheless, action was limited to a bombing of the railway complex in 1943 and four days of ultimately futile German resistance to US attacks in 1944.

Across the Doubs sits the Forts Brégille and Beauregard. The Brégille Heights were reached by a funicular built in 1913. It passed from private ownership during its usage to the SNCF until 1987 when it was finally shut down. To this day the tracks, stations and even roadsigns of the funicular remain in place.

Geography and climate

Geography

Besançon is located in the north-east quarter of France on the Doubs River. It is about 325 km (215 miles) far from the national capital Paris and 100 km (60 miles) far from Dijon in Burgundy, Lausanne in Switzerland or Belfort in the Franche-Comté région. It's situated at the feet of the Jura mountains' first folds.

The natural site in which the city has developed is particularly interesting: a perfect natural meander (or oxbow loop) of the Doubs River with a diameter of almost 1 km (3,281 ft), formed by the (Doubs river). The inner loop, a flat area, has an elevation of about 250 m (820 ft) and is closed by a hill, called Mont Saint-Étienne, which maximum height is 371 m (1,217ft). The city is surrounded by six other hills which elevations are between 400 m (1,312 ft) and 500 m (1,640 ft).

Climate

Besançon is under the influence of both an oceanic climate (notable precipitations in quantity as much as in frequency) and a continental climate with hard winters (snow, frost) and warm and dry summers. The year-round average is 10.2°C (50°F). The warmest month is July (18.9°C or 66°F) and the coldest is January (1.6°C or 35°F). Besançon receives about 1108 mm (44 inches) of precipitation a year. The wettest month is May (111.4 mm or 4.4 in); the driest is July (80.5 mm or 3.2 in).

The highest temperature ever, recorded on 31 July 1983, was 38.8 °C (101.8 °F), and the lowest was a −20.7 °C (−5.3 °F) temperature reached on 1 January 1985.

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Avg temperature °C (°F) 1.6 (35) 3.3 (38) 6.1 (43) 9.4 (49) 13.3 (56) 16.5 (62) 18.9 (66) 18.3 (65) 15.7 (60) 11.3 (52) 5.6 (42) 2.1 (36) 10.2 (50)
Avg rainfall mm (in) 91.1 (3.6) 81.8 (3.2) 83.5 (3.3) 91.6 (3.6) 111.4 (4.4) 100.1 (3.9) 80.5 (3.2) 86.9 (3.4) 93.2 (3.7) 85.8 (3.4) 103.7 (4.1) 99.0 (3.9) 1108 (43.6)
Source: Météo France

Demographics

As of the French Census of 1999, the population of the City of Besançon was 117,733, lower than the historical peak of 120,315 in 1975. As of February 2004 estimates, the population of the city proper was 114,900.

The Besançon agglomeration or urban area (unité urbaine) covers 122 km², 11 municipalities (communes) and has a population of 134,376.

The metropolitan area (aire urbaine) covers 1,652 km², 234 municipalities (communes) and has 222,381 inhabitants. It's the 37

of France. It increased by 11.4% between 1990 and 1999.

Administration

Besançon is the capital of the Franche-Comté région of France, a région including the four départements of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Jura and Territoire de Belfort. As such, it is the seat of the Franche-Comté regional council, and the regional préfecture (government offices).

Mayor of the City of Besançon is Jean-Louis Fousseret.

Economy

The city is famous for its microtechnology and watch industries. It is host of the biannual Micronora trade fair, one of Europe's major events in the field of microtechnologies. The city has a little-known speciality, 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 far-eastern quartz watches knocked out the traditional watch industry in the space of just a few years. This industrial crisis was epitomised by the famous "Lip" affair, by the name of one of Besançon's most prestigious brands of watches. Refusing to be beaten, the workers of Lip took over their factory and set it up as a worker's cooperative. The event branded Besançon as a city of the radical left, and though it produced a lot of notoriety and sympathy for the workers, it did little to help revive the watch industry, the cooperative going out of business after a short period. The city took a long time to recover from the collapse of the watch industry and its other major industry of the industrial age, artificial textiles.

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 technology in all fields, including telecommunications and biotechnology.

Education

There are very many universities in Besancon, which is a city with a lot of students. There are a lot of Microtechnologies formations.

Culture

Sites of interest

Interior of St. Jean Cathedral in Besançon.

The city has one of the most beautiful historic centres of any major town in France. The old town, "la Boucle", is enclosed in a broad horse-shoe of the river Doubs, which is blocked off at the neck by Vauban's imposing Citadelle. The historic centre presents a remarkable ensemble of classic stone buildings, some dating back to the Middle Ages. Among the most visited historic monuments are:

  • the 16th century Palais Granvelle, built by Cardinal Granvelle, chancellor to the Habsburg emperor Charles V [Palais:[1],[2]
  • Vauban's citadel and remarkable riverside frontage
  • the St. Jean cathedral, dating largely from the 12th century [3]
  • several Roman remains, notably the Porte Noire, a triumphal arch.

Besançon also has one of the finest city art galleries in France outside Paris. The Musée des Beaux Arts has a collection built up since 1694, and expanded over time by a remarkable series of bequests. The building itself was totally rebuilt in the 1960s by the architect Miquel, a pupil of Le Corbusier, its interior taking the form of a gently rising concrete walkway that takes visitors up from classical antiquity to the modern age. Among its treasures are a fine collection of classical antiquities and ancient Egyptian artefacts, as well as a very rich collection of paintings including works by Bellini, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Titian, Rubens, Jordaens, Ruysdael, Cranach, Zurbaran, Goya, Philippe de Champaigne, Fragonard, Boucher, David, Ingres, Géricault, Courbet, Constable, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso and many others.

Perhaps the most remarkable of the city's masterpieces is the massive Virgin and saints altarpiece in the St. Jean cathedral, by the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Bartolomeo.

Events

Several major events occur annually in Besançon. One of the best-known is the Festival de Musique de Besançon Franche-Comté, takong place in september, one of the oldest and most prestigious Classical music festivals.

Sports

The major sports in Besançon are handball and basketball. Soccer is important also but the city's club, called Besançon Racing Club, plays only in the fourth national division.

Transportation

Besançon is situated at the crossing of two major lines of communication, the NE-SW route, following the valley of the river Doubs, and linking Germany and North Europe with Lyon and southwest Europe, and the N-S route linking northern France and the Low Countries with Switzerland.

A key staging post on the Strasbourg-Lyon (Germany-Spain) route, it also has direct high-speed train (TGV) links with Paris, Charles de Gaulle International Airport, and Lille. Unusually for a town of its size, it does not have a commercial airport, though two international airports, EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg and Lyon Saint-Exupéry International Airport, can be reached in about 2 hours.

Miscellaneous

As well as being famed as one of France's finest "villes d'art" (art cities), Besançon is the seat of one of France's older universities, of France's National School of Mechanics and Micromechanics, and one of the best known French language schools in France, the CLA.

It is also reputed to be France's most environmentally-friendly city, with a public transport network that has often been cited as a model. On account of the topography, the historic city centre lies at the edge of the modern city, and hiking tracks lead straight from the centre and up into the surrounding hills.

The city council has been in the hands of the Socialists and parties of the left since the second world war.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is also Dame of Besançon.

Births

Besançon was the birthplace of:

In Stendhal's novel Le rouge et le noir, Julien Sorel, the main character, studies for a while at the catholic seminary from Besançon.

Besançon is where the Touché! series, an Australian series of books that teaches people French, is set. The series is about an Australian boy called Nick, who moves to a street in Besançon called rue Cézanne after his parents are separated. He befriends a French girl called Marianne, who introduces him to other residents of rue Cézanne, such as Ahmed, Annick, François Peitpain, Émile Mesquin, Monsieur Fric, Madame Boulin and Mademoiselle Moh. The first two books of the series take place in Besançon, whilst in the third, Nick visits his uncle in New Caledonia. In the fourth, Nick stays in Quebec, Canada. After the fourth book, Nick returns to Besançon.

Julian Barnes' novel A History of the World in 10½ Chapters features as chapter 3: "Wars of Religion"--a fictional manuscript reportedly from the Archives Municipales de Besancon.

Twin towns

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Besançon.
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