13 Sights in Besançon, France (with Map and Images)
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Tickets and guided tours on Viator*Explore interesting sights in Besançon, France. Click on a marker on the map to view details about it. Underneath is an overview of the sights with images. A total of 13 sights are available in Besançon, France.
List of cities in France Sightseeing Tours in Besançon1. Mont de Bregille
Mont de Brégille is a hill in the Jura massif, culminating at 447 m above sea level, making it the fourth highest hill in the city of Besançon, after Planoise, La Chapelle des Buis and Rosemont. Located entirely in the commune, bordered by the river Doubs, the hill includes a vast forest area that encompasses it almost entirely, as well as several residential areas forming the historic district of Bregille. Its geographical location means that Bregille has long been a wine estate thanks to its sunshine which has prospered the terraced culture, but also a strategic military site by its domination over the city and the citadel of Vauban. Today Mont de Bregille is a peri-urban site, appreciated by hikers and inhabitants for its preserved natural setting and almost in the wild.
2. Citadelle de Besançon
The Citadel of Besançon is a 17th-century fortress in Franche-Comté, France. It is one of the finest masterpieces of military architecture designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The Citadel occupies 11 hectares on Mount Saint-Etienne, one of the seven hills that protect Besançon, the capital of Franche-Comté. Mount Saint-Etienne occupies the neck of an oxbow formed by the river Doubs, giving the site a strategic importance that Julius Caesar recognised as early as 58 BC. The Citadel overlooks the old quarter of the city, which is located within the oxbow, and has views of the city and its surroundings.
3. Horloge astronomique

The Besançon astronomical clock is housed in Besançon Cathedral. Auguste-Lucien Vérité fr:Auguste-Lucien Vérité of Beauvais designed and built Besançon's present astronomical clock, between 1858 and 1863. It replaced an earlier clock that Bernardin had constructed in the 1850s that proved unsatisfactory. Besançon's clock differs from those in Strasbourg, Lyon, and Beauvais. The clock is meant to express the theological concept that each second of the day the Resurrection of Christ transforms the existence of man and of the world.
4. Ancien hôtel Gauthiot d'Ancier
The Hotel Gauthiot d'Ancier is a sixteenth-century mansion in the historic center of Besançon, in the Doubs, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. Built by the Gauthiot d'Ancier family, the façade and roof of the former hotel have been listed as historical monuments since February 18, 1942, and the span of the old half-timbered house preserved from the second floor of the house has been listed as a historical monument since January 28, 1994.
5. Porte taillée
The Porte taillée is a city gate located in Besançon (France). It was drilled in the rock of Saint-Étienne hill by the Romans under Vespasian or Marcus Aurelius, for the aqueduc of Besançon between Vaire-Arcier and square Castan. The passage is redeveloping during the Middle Ages in real city gate, and fortified in 1546 by Vauban under Charles Quint. The Porte taillée is classified Monument historique since 1944.
6. Église Saint-Pierre
The Saint-Pierre de Besançon church is located in the Boucle district, on the Place du Huit-Septembre, in the heart of the city centre. It bears the name of the first pope and apostle of Christ of Christendom Saint Peter. It is part of the Saint Etienne Pastoral Unit which brings together the churches of the city center as well as that of Morre.
7. Synagogue de Besançon
The Synagogue of Besançon is the principal Jewish place of worship in the city of Besançon, France. The building is located in the area of Battant, near the old center of the town. It was built in 1869 and was inaugurated on 18 November. Since 1984 the building has been listed as a historical monument.
8. Abbaye Saint-Paul
The Abbey of Saint-Paul de Besançon is a former Augustinian abbey of the seventh century in the historic center of Besançon in Franche-Comté. Prestigious abbey in the Middle Ages, the nave of the fourteenth-century Gothic abbey church serves to this day as a municipal lapidary reserve.
9. Église Sainte-Madeleine
The église Sainte-Madeleine is a neoclassical 18th century hall church in the Battant district of Besançon, France, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. Antoine-Pierre II de Grammont, the archbishop of Besançon, had it built from 1746 to 1766 to plans by the architect Nicolas Nicole.
10. Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation

The Museum of the Resistance and Deportation of Besançon, labeled Museum of France, is located in the heart of the Citadel of Besançon, a mecca of culture and tourism in Franche-Comté. Each year, it welcomes more than 55,000 visitors.
Wikipedia: Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation (Besançon) (FR)
11. Musée du Temps
The Musée du Temps de Besançon is a museum of history and watchmaking located in Besançon in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, housed in one of the most beautiful palaces in the city, the Palais Granvelle.
12. Mémorial Notre-Dame de la Libération
Our Lady of Liberation is a church built in an old fort located at nearly 500 meters of altitude, near the hamlet of Chapelle des Buis on the outskirts of the city of Besançon in the department of Doubs in Eastern France.
13. Promenade Micaud
The Parc Micaud or Promenade Micaud is a public garden in Besançon located on the banks of the Doubs. It is named after Jean-Agathe Micaud, former mayor of Besançon from 1835 to 1843, and initiator of the park in 1843.
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