The Citadel of Besançon is one the town’s major attractions and it has become now the pride of local people.
Set high up on an anticlinal, the Citadel of Besancon takes up a 27 acre site. A city of 10,000 inhabitants could easily have settled down there. The construction of the fortress, designed by Vauban, would have cost so much to Louis XIV, that the Sun King asked if the walls were gold.
The fortress overlooks the town of Besançon and hides within its walls an unusual itinerary, which will lead you to discover both History and Natural Sciences. This is a unique and unexpected visit in a fortress, which is listed as Historical Monument. On the one hand, the museum shows the diversity of life (Zoo, noctarium, small farm, insectarium, aquarium, climatorium …), and, on the other hand, a large exhibition related to the region’s History, tells local people’s past : the Espace Vauban enables understanding everything about Vauban and his military genius, the Circuit des Remparts offers a unique view of the city of Besançon and its fortifications; the Franche-Comté Museum presents the History of local folk art through a rich and extensive collection; and the Museum of Resistance and Deportation, acts as a testimonial of a painful period.
