Vesoul
Vesoul is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France.
It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglomération de Vesoul which covers 20 municipalities together had inhabitants while the Urban area of Vesoul which includes 78 municipalities, had inhabitants. Its inhabitants are known in French as Vésuliens.
Built on top of the hill of La Motte in the first millennium under the name of Castrum Vesulium, the city gradually evolved into a European commercial and economic center. At the end of the Middle Ages, the city experienced a challenging period beset with plagues, epidemics, and localized conflict.
Main urban center of the department, Vesoul is also home to a major PSA parts manufacturing plant and to the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema. It was immortalized by Jacques Brel in his 1968 song "Vesoul".
The town is the capital of the department of Haute-Saône.
History
Vesoul is first mentioned in a document dated 899. That document speaks about an elevation with a fortified watchtower. The document speaks about "Castrum Vesulium". Castrum is a fortification, and "Vesulium" has the syllable ves which meant hill or mountain in a language that was spoken before the Celts. Today, there is a castle that forms the centre of the city. The first houses were built inside the walls of the castle. Newcomers who found no place settled outside the city walls, on the flanks of the hill. Growing wine was popular.In 1814, after the fall of the empire, a buffer state was created, with Vesoul as capital. The principality was that of Free County, of the Vosges and of Porrentruy.
Today, one of the main factories of PSA Peugeot Citroën is near Vesoul.
Geography
Vesoul is located in the center of the Haute-Saône and is equidistant from the other cities of the department. It is located at the intersection of highways 19 and 57, on the SNCF Paris-Basel railway line. Vesoul is from Besançon, from Epinal, from Luxeuil-les-Bains, from Lure, from Belfort, from Gray and from Dijon .The largest city near Vesoul is Besançon. As the crow flies, Vesoul is from the capital Paris, from Marseille, from Lyon, from Toulouse, from Nice, from Nantes, from Strasbourg, from Montpellier, from Bordeaux, and from Lille, 3.
Administration and politics
Mayors
Twin towns
- Gerlingen, Germany, since 1964
Administrative division
- Arrondissement of Vesoul
- Canton of Vesoul-1
- Canton of Vesoul-2
Population and society
- Jean-Michel Nicolier, French volunteer in the Croatian War of Independence who was killed in the Vukovar massacre
- Sophie Bouillon, independent journalist, winner of the 2009 Albert Londres Prize.
Demography
Media
Vesoul is also the name of a song by Jacques Brel from 1968, a fast-paced waltz during the recording of which Brel famously yelled "Chauffe, Marcel, chauffe!" at his accordionist, Marcel Azzola.The town is also mentioned facetiously in the satirical rap Fous ta cagoule by Michael Youn.
Sport
- Vesoul Haute-Saône, football club
- Stade René Hologne
- Cercle de Judo de Vesoul, Judo club with a competitors section
Education
A Council of Student Life, led by the Officer in charge of Higher Education, was established in 2011. It offers activities to stimulate student life. In all, Vesoul has 10,000 students.
All schools and studies in Vesoul
Culture and heritage
Monuments and tourist attractions
- Vieux Vesoul
- Site of Vesoul's Motte
- Site of the Sabot de Frotey
- Lake of Vesoul - Vaivre
- Vesoul-Vaivre Vélo-rail
- Convent of the Ursulines
- St. George's Church, Vesoul
- Gare de Vesoul
- PSA Vesoul Plant
- Synagogue of Vesoul
- Musée Georges-Garret
- Notre-Dame-de-la-Motte
- Paul Morel Hospital
- Lac de Vesoul - Vaivre
Festival
- Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Library
In 1981, the municipality decided to build a new building to encourage the public to read. The library was recently equipped with computers. There are around 200 manuscripts and 150 incunables.
Areas
Neighborhoods
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