The lack of a transept and the facing apses parallel the designs of contemporary German cathedrals.

To the east of the cathedral is the 16th-century Porte Rivotte, with two round towers, and pedestrian walkways dating to the 19th century.

To the west is the Porte Noire, a Roman triumphal arch of the 2nd century with extensive sculptural decoration.

It was decorated in the style associated with the period of Louis XV of France, using stucco, marble, and gilded wood.

The apse contains paintings representing the passion and resurrection of Christ by Charles-Joseph Natoire, Jean François de Troy, and Charles-André van Loo.

The floor of the apse is of marble and represents Jerusalem, together with the eight gates and four palaces mentioned respectively in the Old and New Testaments.

It holds a marble, eight-lobed, circular altar table known as the Rose of Saint John; it is a little over one meter in diameter.

[1] He produced it in 1532 at the request of Margaret of Austria's chaplain, the Abbot Antoine de Montécut.

The abbey of Saint Vincent de Besançon received it from the abbot and originally displayed it in a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.

[1] Chapter 28, "A Procession," in Stendhal's novel Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) takes place in Besançon Cathedral and includes a description of the cathedral decorations for the Feast of Corpus Christi.