Cathédrale Saint-Jean de Besançon

Besançon

The notebook of Archbishop Sigeric, in 990, records Bysiceon: Besançon was then one of the great stages between the Saône and the Jura, an archbishop's city in a river loop barred by a spur. The cathedral is surprising at first sight, because it has two opposed chevets: an apse to the east, called the apse of the Virgin, and a second to the west, dedicated to Saint John, an arrangement inherited from the original Carolingian plan and rare in France, shared with the cathedral of Nevers. Pope Eugene III, who was then staying in Burgundy, came to dedicate the building on 18 May 1148 and consecrated eight altars there. A fire destroyed the Romanesque roof timbers in 1212; the rebuilding was in rib vaults, and the church therefore keeps two ages one above the other. It preserves a circular altar of white marble a little over a metre across, of the 11th century, which is called the Rose de Saint-Jean and which a local tradition connects with the passage of Pope Leo IX in 1050; it was moved several times before being set into the wall of the apse in 1790. For the pilgrim going down towards the Alps, Besançon was the last real town before the mountains: there one crossed the Doubs, took on supplies, and set off on the road to Pontarlier.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Saint-Jean de Besançon ↗

Getting there : At the top of the rue de la Convention, in the Boucle, ten minutes' walk from the centre; the climb up to the citadel passes the doorway. Free admission during opening hours. The astronomical clock, installed in the tower, is visited separately and for a charge, with its own opening times. Parking is difficult in the quarter: better to come on foot from the place du Huit-Septembre.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound