Until the second half of the 19th century, this district, along with Battant, was the only part of the city of Besançon, before urban expansion into the surrounding areas.

Thanks to its flourishing past, the district boasts the city's richest and most complete architectural heritage, with around a hundred remarkable buildings, dozens of statues and several bridges, squares and streets.

The district's name derives from its exceptional location: the Doubs river flows around the Saint-Étienne hill in an almost perfect loop, making the Boucle site a sort of peninsula.

But a much older monument proves that the area occupied an important place as early as ancient Rome: the Porte Noire, dated between 171 and 175 CE.

The Saint-Jean site lies to the west of the Boucle district, partly on the stepped slopes of Mont Saint-Étienne.

La Chapelle-des-Buis is officially a locality, but the site is managed by the city of Besançon, located in the heart of the Saint-Etienne hill.

Its name may derive from the contraction of "rive" and "haute", given that only 30 meters separate the Doubs river from the steep slopes of Mont Saint-Étienne.

In the past, the Porte de Malpas gateway, which had existed since at least the 11th century, was located on today's Route Nationale 83, between Tarragnoz and Velotte, but was demolished in 1893 to allow the creation of a wider road linking the two areas.

However, the government decided to place a number of public buildings on the site, including the police headquarters and the chamber of commerce.

In 68 AD, the Romans enlarged and embellished the city, building numerous edifices on either side of today's Grande Rue.

Source: CCAS[8] (2018) 2010–2018 (2010) 1999–2010 (1999) La Boucle is the city's economic heart and, along with Châteaufarine, one of its main commercial sectors.

The area is home to the majority of the city's small and medium-sized retailers, as well as all the "specialty" stores (gun shops, numismatics, most bookshops, etc.).

To revitalize the town center and create a commercial space to meet the growing demand of the population, the municipality has raised the possibility of building a covered market comprising four to five medium-sized and/or large stores right in the heart of Place Pasteur (Grande rue).

Work to redevelop the square began at the end of 2007, with construction of the shopping center scheduled to follow in the next few years.

The Besançon tramway, linking Planoise to the Marnières area, has been passing through the Boucle (via Chamars and Place de la Révolution) since 2014.

In addition to the buildings, roadways such as the Pont Battant and Place de la Révolution also contribute to the beauty of the site.

The area also boasts century-old plane trees in Chamars, forming a veritable "petit bois", home to numerous species of birds, including crows, pigeons and sparrows.

Jean-Marie Brulard, Claude Jacques Lecourbe, Yves Jégo, Viviane Wade, Charles-Étienne-François Ruty, etc.

Jean-François Di Giorgio, Luc Breton, Claude Goudimel, Pierre-Adrien Pâris, Armand-Emile Mathey-Doret, Jean Gigoux, etc.