Besançon Citadel

The Citadel of Besançon plays a key role in the city’s identity and history. In the early 17th century, Besançon was under Spanish rule, and Louis XIV conquered the city and the wider Franche-Comté region. After completing the conquest in 1678, the King wanted these eastern lands to serve as an extended border of the kingdom. Louis XIV tasked Vauban, the most brilliant military engineer of the time, with designing the fortifications. Over nine years, he created a defensive system that blended seamlessly into the landscape. Working with the terrain and remaining as discreet as possible became the hallmarks of his genius and proved incredibly effective in keeping enemies at bay. Over time, the citadel served a number of roles: it was a military barracks, a cadet training school, a prison, and a military penitentiary. Its darkest chapter came during the 1940s, when 100 resistance fighters arrested in the region were executed within its walls. In 1959, the city of Besançon purchased the site, and today the citadel is home to three museums, focused on the Resistance, regional ethnography, and natural history. Striking, majestic, and over 300 years old, the Citadel of Besançon is one of the best-preserved defensive structures in France. It’s no surprise that UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2008. One thing’s for sure, Vauban knew exactly what he was doing.