Cathédale Saint-Jean-Baptiste

The Cathédrale Saint-Jean in Besançon stands at the foot of the citadel hill, in the old town enclosed by the loop of the Doubs, and it is the seat of the archbishop of the city. A church has stood on the site since late antiquity, and the cathedral that visitors see today is the result of many rebuildings. It was rebuilt in the ninth century, then again after a fire in the eleventh century, and the surviving building is mainly Romanesque of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with later additions. Next to it stands the Porte Noire, the Black Gate, a Roman triumphal arch of the second or third century that was blackened by age and has beautiful carved decoration, one of the major Roman remains of the town.

The cathedral is unusual in having two apses, one at the east end and one at the west, and it contains a mixture of styles. The Romanesque choir at the east end has a sober, solid character, with round arches and thick pillars, while the apse at the western end, added in the eighteenth century, is in the ornate Baroque style and forms a counter-choir that contrasts with the older part. The combination of the two styles under one roof is striking, and shows how the building has changed over the centuries. Among the artworks inside is a painting of the Virgin in Glory by the Italian Renaissance master Fra Bartolomeo, which came to Besançon through the family of the Granvelle chancellors, who were great collectors, and the altars and chapels contain sculpture and paintings from several periods.

A bell tower beside the cathedral houses the astronomical clock, a nineteenth-century masterpiece of mechanical engineering made by Auguste-Lucien Vérité, with thousands of parts and many dials that show the time in different places, the tides and the movements of the planets. Figures appear to act out the resurrection of Christ at certain times. The clock has been undergoing restoration, so check whether it is open, and the visit has a separate ticket, with reduced rates for young people and free entry for children under 18.

The cathedral is generally open to the public, with seasonal hours and closures on Mondays and some holidays. It is a place of worship, so visitors should keep quiet. A visit takes about an hour.

The cathedral suits lovers of history and architecture, and it is a short walk from the citadel, the Musée Comtois and the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie, as well as the old town, with its Place de la Libération and the Marché des Capucins.