The Saint-Etienne cathedral of Besançon, in Doubs, was the first cathedral of the city, then located on the current northern part of the citadel.
A first Saint-Etienne church would have been built in the 3rd century. From 1033 to 1050, a new Romanesque church was built by Archbishop Hugues de Salins and became a cathedral.
However, the same prelate had the current Saint-Jean cathedral built on the foundations of a 9th century church.
The cathedrals each have their own chapter, and a conflict begins which only ends in the 13th century when the precedence of Saint-Jean Cathedral, further north, outside the citadel, is definitively established.
And in the 17th century, when Vauban fortified the city, the Saint-Etienne cathedral, which had become a simple church, was closed to worship, used for a time as a storage warehouse and then set on fire. A simple chapel will replace it, with the works of art it housed being transferred to Saint-Jean Cathedral.
It was therefore rebuilt on Carolingian bases in the 11th century and remodeled several times subsequently, including Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque elements.
The particularity of the building is that it has two opposite apses: the first is Romanesque, the second was built in the 18th century (baroque style). They are connected by a nave lined with several chapels.
In addition to its architectural wealth, Saint-Jean Cathedral is renowned for the large number of works of sacred art (classified as objects) that it houses. Let us cite a rare circular altar in white marble from the 11th century, around thirty paintings (including "The Virgin of the Saints" painted in 1512 by Fra Bartolomeo) but also a singular astronomical clock equipped with animated figures evoking the theme of the Resurrection.
During a visit, we also notice that several counts of Burgundy and of course archbishops were buried in the building classified as a Historic Monument in 1875.
Open every day. Guided tour on request from the tourist office on +33 3 81 80 92 55.
