Musée Comtois

The Musée Comtois is the regional museum of Franche-Comté, and it is housed inside the Citadel of Besançon, the great fortress that rises above a loop of the Doubs river. The citadel was built by Vauban, Louis XIV's military engineer, from 1668 after the king's armies conquered the province, and it forms part of the group of Vauban fortifications inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2008. Walking up to it, through gates and over drawbridges, is part of the experience, and the museum is one of several that share the site.

The subject is the way of life and the traditions of the Comtois, the people of the old county of Burgundy, called the Franche-Comté, or free county. Because the region lies between France, Switzerland and Burgundy, it has a particular blend of traditions, and the museum gathers objects that show how people lived in its farms, villages and workshops. As in most museums of this type, the displays are likely to include regional costume, furniture, tools of farming and cheese-making, domestic objects and crafts, alongside documents about local history, and they reflect the region's rural and industrial past, from mountain farms to the watchmaking that made Besançon famous. The museum's own information should be consulted for the current arrangement of the rooms.

The Franche-Comté is also known for its food, in particular Comté cheese, matured in the caves of the Jura mountains, and for the wines of the Jura. The museum helps to explain how these products, and the culture of the mountain dairy cooperatives, the fruitières, developed over the centuries.

The citadel itself offers more than one museum. Other collections inside it deal with the Resistance and Deportation, as well as natural history, with an insectarium and an aquarium, so a day here can cover many interests. The ramparts give views over the old town in its loop of the river and the hills beyond. Hours are longer in high season and shorter in winter, and tickets are sold on site, sometimes as a combined pass for the citadel.

The visit suits those who like regional history, families and walkers, and it is best combined with a wander in the Vieux Besançon below. The Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie, the Musée de la Montre et de l'Horlogerie Franc-Comtoise, the cathedral and the Théâtre Romain are all close.