Besançon: France

Besançon Travel: France
Besançon is a French city in the département of Doubs, of which it is the préfecture. Population (1999): 122,308. 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).
Attractions in Besançon
The city is renowned for having 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 has little in the way of unseemly modern architecture, and 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
*Vauban’s citadel and remarkable riverside frontage
*the St. Jean cathedral, dating largely from the 12th century
*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 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