Besançon (UK: /ˈbɛzənsɒn/,[4] US: /bəˈzænsən/;[5] French: [bəzɑ̃sɔ̃] ⓘ, Franco-Provençal: [bəzɑ̃ˈsɔ̃]; archaic German: Bisanz; Latin: Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Julius Caesar, in his commentaries detailing his conquest of Gaul, describes Vesontio (possibly Latinized), as the largest town of the Sequani, a smaller Gaulic tribe, and mentions that a wooden palisade surrounded it.

Over the centuries, the name permutated to become Besantio, Besontion, Bisanz in Middle High German, and gradually arrived at the modern French Besançon.

Besançon was also the location, between 1940 and 1941, of an Internment Camp (Konzentrationslager), Frontstalag 142, also known as Caserne Vauban, which the Germans set up for 3–4,000 holders of British passports, all women and children.

Besançon has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb, Trewartha: Do), with cool to cold winters, warm summers, and frequent precipitation year-round.

The city is also home of the École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques (ENSMM), a technological school with a strong reputation in the fields of microtechnology and mechanics and the Centre for Applied Linguistics which teaches ten languages to non-native speakers (French, Arabic, Chinese, English, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish) and any other known language on request.

The most emblematic and best-preserved monument dating from this period is the Porte Noire, a Gallo-Roman triumphal arch built under Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century in the Saint-Jean district.

On the other bank of the river Doubs, in the Battant district, the remains of the Vesontio arena are visible: only a few steps and foundations have been unearthed, its stones having been widely used in the Middle Ages for the construction of other buildings.

Most of the current fortification system (citadel, defensive wall made up of ramparts and bastions, Fort Griffon) is the work of the military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.

The Porte Rivotte is a city gate dating from the 16th century, consisting of two round towers and a pediment carved with a sun which was King Louis XIV's personal emblem.

Important constructions or reconstructions of religious buildings then took place in the 11th century during the episcopate of Hugues Ier de Salins and many churches were embellished or rebuilt after the French conquest of 1674.

The most important religious building dedicated to Catholic worship in Besançon is Saint John's Cathedral, of Gothic architecture, dating from the 9th, 12th and 18th centuries.

The cathedral dominates the old chapter district which includes the Archbishopric of Besançon located in the former Hôtel Boistouset and the former Archbishop's Palace currently occupied by the Rectorate of the academy.

The Grand Seminary was built from 1670 to 1695 by Archbishop Antoine-Pierre Ier de Grammont and completed in the 18th century by the elevation of the portal and the construction of the main facade.

In the heart of the city centre, St Peter's Church, built by the Bisontin Claude Joseph Alexandre Bertrand from 1782 to 1786, impresses with the height of its bell tower which served as a belfry for the Hôtel de Ville, which is opposite.

During the Age of Enlightenment, the town's urban planning underwent major transformations and the construction of remarkable buildings, notably due to its new status as capital.

It was also during this period that the astronomical observatory and the Café du Commerce were erected, a brasserie from the second half of the 19th century with a rich interior decor in the Belle Époque style.

The Dodane watch factory, completed in 1943, is an L-shaped reinforced concrete building whose construction was entrusted to the architect Auguste Perret who also designed the interior decor elements.

The architect Bertrand remodeled it between 1770 and 1778 by incorporating a café, public baths, an aviary of rare birds, waterfalls, a botanical garden and many plantings.

It includes a bandstand, an artificial cave, a Wallace fountain, statues of Victor Hugo and Auguste Veil-Picard, the portal of the church of the convent of the Great Carmelites, and a neoclassical colonnade, a remnant of a refreshment pavilion.

Among the museum's treasures are a fine collection of classical antiquities and ancient Egyptian artifacts, as well as a very rich collection of paintings including works by Bellini, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Titian, Rubens, Jordaens, Ruisdael, Cranach, Zurbarán, Goya, Philippe de Champaigne, Fragonard, Boucher, David, Ingres, Géricault, Courbet, Constable, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso and many others.

It consists of twenty rooms, retracing the themes related to the Second World War (Nazism, the Occupation, the Vichy regime, the Resistance, Liberation, Deportation) through photographs, texts, documents and original collectibles.

The Comtois Museum, installed in 1961 in the Royal Front, presents regional arts and traditions through sixteen permanent exhibition halls with collections of more than 20,000 objects, mainly from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Scénacle located in the Saint-Jean district is a small theater with a capacity of about 100 seats that offers plays and concerts by the troupe or regional artists.

The Micropolis Exhibition Center houses a modular hall with a capacity of 2,200 to 6,500 seats, where the majority of artists and bands on national and international tours are performing.

The Christmas market in Besançon has been spreading throughout December since 1993, while a carnival parade has been held since 1978, bringing together 20,000 to 30,000 people each year in the streets of the city center.

The Centre des Cultures Urbaines de Besançon (CCUB) located in the Saint-Claude district is a 2,000 m2 indoor space inaugurated in 2019 and dedicated to boardsports (rollerblading, BMX, skateboarding) and balance practices (parkour, slacklining).

Former Besançon BCD, now defunct, played nine seasons in the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France and counted Bruce Bowen, Tanoka Beard and Tony Farmer among its most famous players.

The length of the line is 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) and the route follows a mainly South-West-North East direction through the city between Hauts du Chazal and alternative destinations of Chalezeule ("parc Micaud") and the Besançon railway station at "Gare Viotte".

The Christmas carol "Berger, Secoue Ton Sommeil Profond", known in English as "Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep", originated in Besançon in the 17th century.