Cocktail reception - Besançon Citadel

On Monday 8 July at 7 pm, a short tour of the citadel of Besançon will be organised (99 Rue des Fusillés de la Résistance, 25000 Besançon). The tour will be followed by a cocktail reception on the citadel grounds overlooking the centre of Besançon.

The citadel is a 17th century fortress in Franche-Comté. It is one of the finest masterpieces of military architecture, designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.

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Today it houses several tourist attractions: the museum of natural history (which includes the zoo, the aquarium, the insectarium, the noctarium and the naturalium), the museum of resistance and deportation, the Comtois museum and the Espace Vauban.

For more information, visit https://www.citadelle.com/en/

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Time Museum

On Tuesday 9 July at 7 pm, a visit of the Time museum is scheduled (96 Grande Rue, 25000 Besançon). 

The Time museum is one of a kind, offering a journey through History and Time. The museum is housed in Granvelle Palace, a superb Renaissance building. It pays homage to Besançon’s watchmaking history and tradition.

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In the palace’s three storeys visitors set off to explore the rich and varied collections, from the sundial to an atomic clock, via tapestries recounting the life of Emperor Charles V. Celebrating man’s perpetual quest to measure time, the museum also evokes Time in its symbolic dimension and its unending flight in precious objects and vintage paintings.

After admiring the Foucault pendulum and its demonstration that the earth turns, visitors round off the visit with the palace tower and a wonderful view over the city.

For more information, visit https://www.mdt.besancon.fr/english/

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Gala Dinner

The gala dinner will take place on Tuesday 9 July at the Grand Kursaal (2 Place du Théâtre, 25000 Besançon, just next to the Time museum). The Grand Kursaal is a modular circular auditorium measuring approximately 475 m2. The auditorium has a remarkable domed ceiling decorated with frescoes that evoke the circus arts. Originally, the building was created to house a circus.

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