Besançon

**Besançon** is a city in France. It was the capital of the former Free County (_Franche-Comté_) region. It is the prefecture of the Doubs department. Its population is around 117,600 (2008).

## History

Besançon is an old city. It is discovered in 58 BC and Julius Caesar writes about it in his book Commentarii de Bello Gallico where it is called _Vesontio_. The etymology (origin of the word) is not certain. It could have a Celtic origin. The Celtic word _wes_ means mountain. In the 4th century, the letter B became V. The city name changed to _Besontio_ or _Bisontion_. It became Besançon in 1243. In 1871 the city is going through a revolutionary period, known as Besançon Commune.

The city has a Renaissance citadel. It was later used by the Nazis during World War II.

## Climate

Besançon has an oceanic climate and a continental climate. The average temperature is 10.2 °C (50 °F). The warmest month of the year is July (18.9 °C or 66 °F) and the coldest month is January (1.6 °C or 35 °F). Besançon receives about 1108 mm (44 inches) of precipitation per 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) reached on 1 January 1985.
|style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="17"|Month|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Jan|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Feb|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Mar|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Apr|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|May|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Jun|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Jul|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Aug|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Sep|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Oct|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Nov|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Dec|style="background: #99CCCC; color:#000080;"|Year|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background: #80FFFF; color:#000000;"|1.6 (35)|style="background: #80FFFF; color:#000000;"|3.3 (38)|style="background: #B2FFFF; color:#000000;"|6.1 (43)|style="background: #B2FFFF; color:#000000;"|9.4 (49)|style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000000;"|13.3 (56)|style="background: #FFCC66; color:#000000;"|16.5 (62)|style="background: #FF8000; color:#000000;"|18.9 (66)|style="background: #FF8000; color:#000000;"|18.3 (65)|style="background: #FFCC66; color:#000000;"|15.7 (60)|style="background: #FFFF99; color:#000000;"|11.3 (52)|style="background: #B2FFFF; color:#000000;"|5.6 (42)|style="background: #80FFFF; color:#000000;"|2.1 (36)|style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000000;"|10.2 (50)|||
|style="background: #DFDFDF; color: black;"|91.1 (3.6)|style="background: #E5E5E5; color: black;"|81.8 (3.2)|style="background: #E5E5E5; color: black;"|83.5 (3.3)|style="background: #DFDFDF; color: black;"|91.6 (3.6)|style="background: #B2B2B2; color: black;"|111.4 (4.4)|style="background: #B2B2B2; color: black;"|100.1 (3.9)|style="background: #E5E5E5; color: black;"|80.5 (3.2)|style="background: #ECECEC; color: black;"|86.9 (3.4)|style="background: #DFDFDF; color: black;"|93.2 (3.7)|style="background: #ECECEC; color: black;"|85.8 (3.4)|style="background: #B2B2B2; color: black;"|103.7 (4.1)|style="background: #DFDFDF; color: black;"|99.0 (3.9)|style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;"|1108 (43.6)|||
|colspan="14" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|_Source: Météo France_|||||||||||||||||||||||||||

## Monuments

- Besançon Cathedral
- Synagogue of Besançon
- Jewish cemetery of Besançon

## Éducation

- École nationale supérieure de mécanique et des microtechniques

## Sister cities

Besançon is twinned with:
- Tver, Russia
- Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Kuopio, Finland
- Huddersfield – Kirklees, United Kingdom
- Bielsko-Biała, Poland
- Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Bistriţa, Romania
- Pavia, Italy
- Hadera, Israel
- Douroula, Burkina Faso
- Man, Côte d'Ivoire
- Charlottesville – Virginia, United States

## Infobox (french commune)

- **name**: Besançon
- **image**: Besancon boucle Doubs.jpg
- **caption**: The old city of Besançon
in the meander, oxbow of the Doubs River.
- **image flag**: Flag of Besançon.svg
- **image coat of arms**: Blason ville fr Besançon (Doubs).svg
- **city motto**: _Plût A Dieu_ <small>("If God wills")</small> or _Utinam_
- **mayor**: Jean-Louis Fousseret
- **party**: Socialist Party (France), PS
- **term**: 2014–2020
- **area km2**: 65.05
- **population date**: 2008
- **population**: 117599
- **population ranking**: 29th in France
- **urban area km2**: 122
- **urban area date**: 1999
- **urban pop**: 134,376
- **urban pop date**: 1999
- **metro area km2**: 1652
- **metro area date**: 1999
- **metro area pop date**: 1999
- **metro area pop**: 222,381
- **intercommunality**: Grand Besançon
- **insee**: 25056
- **website**: http://www.besancon.fr/