VVesoul - GB - Office de Tourisme du pays de Vesoul

GB
We invite you to visit the old town...
Vesoul, is first and foremost “la Motte”, the instantly recognisable mount overlooking the Durgeon valley. This
hill was in the past an area very swampy that generations of “Vésuliens” have tried to drain off until the creation
of an artificial lake in 1978.
By the end of the 10 th century, a castle was built on the narrow platform of “La Motte” (378 meters) in whose
shadow a little town surrounded by walls grew up in the 13 th century.
Situated as it was on a Roman road, the town developed a thriving trade in agricultural products, leather and wine
from “La Motte”. As a result of this activity, salesmen settled in Vesoul, among them a powerful Jewish
community having its own school and synagogue. However, Vesoul really developed in 1333 when it became the
capital of the “Baillage d’Amont”, and thus inherited an administrative vocation that has been kept until now.
In the 14 th century, the region was devastated several times by outbreaks of plague and the wars between the
King of France and the mighty Duke of Burgundy (ruler of Franche-Comté at that time). The troops of Louis XI
attacked the castle on no less than eight occasions, leaving the town in a lamentable state in 1479. Franche-Comté
then passed into the hand of the Spaniards and a period of relative peace ensued for a hundred years.
In the 16th century, tradesmen, lawyers and civil servants from the “Baillage” made a lot of money and thus were
able to repair the town. However, in 1595, strife broke out once more: the walls were shattered, the
townspeople massacred and the castle razed to the ground. In the early years of the 17th century, a wave of
religious fervour swept over the country and led to the founding of convents. Four of them were built within ten
years, such as the Jesuit convent, which taught law and rhetoric, while the Ursulines convent exclusively devoted
itself to young women’s education.
In the middle of the 17th century, the kings of France resumed their attempt to annex Franche-Comté. In the
ensuing struggle Vesoul lost half its population and fields, and crops were destroyed. In 1678, the Franche-Comté
became a French province. With the return of peace, trade developed and the town prospered and expanded.
Beautiful residences both sober and austere were built, and some gardens were created. The church and the law
courts were reconstructed. Barracks were built on recently rehabilitated ground in the lower part of the town to
accommodate a cavalry regiment, and the hospital built in 1619 was enlarged.
High up on the hill of the Motte, there is now a chapel that was constructed in 1854 and partially rebuilt in 1966
after it caught fire. The chapel reminds that the town escaped the terrible cholera epidemic in 1854.

Rue Roger-Salengro
Rue d’Alsace-Lorraine
1. At the bottom of the street,
you will find the “Porte Basse”
with a drawbridge. The river
“Périlleuse” (or the “Pouilleuse”)
bathes the ramparts. Walking
back up the street, you can see :
2. N°22 : a beautiful house from
the 18 th century.
3. N°10 : in a dead end, an old
Jewish quarter.
4. N°9 : the house where the
well-known French painter Jean-
Léon Gérôme was born.
5. N°3-5 : a house from the end
of the 16 th century.
6. N°4-2 : a huge house from
the end of the 16 th century with
three floors of paired windows
and arches for the ancient stalls.
7. N°9 : the hotel Burtel from the 15 th century whose courtyard has astonishing columns and gives
access to the old wine cellars with intersecting ribs. At the end of the street, there was in the past a
defence tower surrounded by ramparts (inscribed “Impasse de la Défense”).
8. N°11 : the hotel Thomassin, from 1480-1483, one of the most elegant houses in the town, with its
twisted doorframes and windows, and the chamfer guttering in a typically “comtois” style. A few steps
away, turn right : you are in the garden. Here stands a tower and outbuildings from the 15 th century
roofed with beautiful glazed tiles in a very “Bourguignon” style. The wing and the semicircle gate date
back to the 17 th century.
Rue Beauchamp
9. You walk along one of the facades of the ancient Jesuit convent. Further along, in a park, you will find
the former teacher training college (from the beginning of the 10 th century).
11. You cross a small garden surrounded with borders at the rear of the Ursulines convent. The round
tower belonging to a house from the 16 th century stands not too far from it. In the porch, open the
door and see the old spiral staircase.
You arrive at the “Place du Trau” where you will find an enormous wine vat in which winegrowers
would have put their grape-harvest.
12. Going downstairs, you are now in front of the gate (Renaissance style - 1716) of the Ursulines
convent from 1680. Inside is a beautiful courtyard, now the museum.

Rue des Annonciades
13. N°6 : a courtyard from the 17 th century.
14. The high building lining the street is the old Annonciades convent (1613). Take the Annonciades
passage (“traige”) where stairs and passageways follow each other between houses from the 16 th and
17 th centuries.
15. You then arrive in the rue Petitclerc by the courtyard of a 17 th century house (interesting oak door
and railing balcony).
Rue de Mailly
16. The street is lined with hotels :
At number 1, you will find the hotel de Magnoncourt (1510) : its tower with Thomassin’s coat of arms,
its staircase with huge pillars and its wing which was entirely rebuilt in the 18 th century. Two other
hotels were built in the same century.
Notice on your right a door that stands at one meter of the ground: this allowed the easy loading and
unloading of carts.
17. Before you take the rue du Châtelet, go in and have a look at the wooden staircase in the
courtyard.
Rue du Châtelet
18. At number 5, if you pay attention you will be able to see a house from the 16 th century (one of the
most prestigious of the town before the fire in 1895) as well as its tower. The street has kept the same
appearance since the 16 th century.
N°17 : a gothic door is concealed at the far end of the courtyard. At the end of the dead end, go down
the stairs: you are on the site of the ancient “Porte Haute”.
Rue Baron-Bouvier
This wide road lined with beautiful houses is very characteristic of the 18 th century.
At number 14, you will find several old workshops. At the top of the street stands the old Capucin
convent (now the hospital).
As you head towards the place du Grand-Puits, you can see some interesting houses :
19. For instance, at number 2, the elegant and refined hotel de Mongenet (1549) with its wide accolade
gate decorated with cable mouldings.
20. At number 1, the maison Carriage (15 th C) is a roughcast half-timbered house.
Place du Grand-Puits
21. At number 3, opposite to you, there is the hotel Raillard de Granvelle (18 th C) with a beautiful
wrought iron balcony.
22. Near the “Puits”, you can see the sumptuous hotel Lyautey de Colombe (1712) : a simple and
harmonious building.
At number 2, notice the row of iron railings (called “rejeas”). At number 20, under the porch, you will
find the hotel Fyard de Mercey from the end of the 15 th century.
Place du Palais
Around this square, you can see successively :
the law courts (the old presidential palace from 1771).
23. Facing the law courts, at number 3, the maison Barberousse (15 th C). Notice the steep roof, the
stone crossed windows, the beautiful basket-handle arch surmounted by a cartouche and the surprising
sundial. “A Dieu seul la gloire” (“Glory to God”) is the motto inscribed above the door of the
neighbouring house from the 17 th century.

24. The maison Petremant is a beautiful building from the 18 th century. The builder’s initials are written
down on its balcony railings (situated above the café).
25. Before taking the rue des Boucheries, turn into the small rue du Palais where you will see a tower
from the 15 th century and the door of the hotel d’Hortelans in the rue Leblond in front of you.
Rue des Boucheries
26. The hotel Beauséjour from the 16 th century : its gate with a niche gives access to the hotel
courtyard.
27. At number 14, you will find the hotel Simon Renard. Its façade and its gate were renovated in the
18 th century. Come on in. Simon Renard, the ambassador of Charles the Fifth of Spain, built this hotel in
1525. Notice the ceiling in the porch, the hexagonal tower, the gargoyles and the gothic door. The
traces of the 18 th century are particularly visible from the right-hand wing.
Now, wend your way towards the rue du Fort. This street will take you to the rue Georges Genoux
which approximately follows the old ramparts.
Square Flavigny
To your left are the new houses of Vesoul that replace the old living quarters of the town. To your
right, you can see remaining buildings from the 15 th and 17 th centuries.
Place de l’Eglise
28. The church was originally rebuilt in 1745.
Inside, you will find interesting furniture, for
instance a “Pieta” and a “Mise au tombeau” from
the 16 th century made with polychrome stones (on
your right as you go in). To your left, before the
pulpit, you will see a marble statue with misty eyes
representing the faith of Canova (18 th C). Notice
also Rabini’s beautiful organ from 1776.
At the corner of the street, to your left, look at
the façade of the hotel d’Aigreveaux. Facing the
church, at number 18, the maison Parat : a really
harmonious building from the 15 th century. Notice
the wine cellar entrance with triple arches. The square is lined on the right with houses from the 16 th
and 17 th centuries.
29. N°2 is the maison Baressol (15 th C), one of the most curious in Vesoul with its gables and its high
lancet window.
From the wrought iron gate situated under the porch one could have seen who was entering the
Annonciades passage.
30. Meeting place
Guided tours are organized every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 pm from June 15 th to September 15 th .
For group visits, please phone the Tourist Office, 2 rue Gevrey, number : (+33) (0)3 84 97 10 85.
Made by ourselves.
Don’t throw anything on public way, please use the dustbin.
Modifications on 06.11.2008