Hôtel de Rosières

Hôtel de Rosières is a historic townhouse in the heart of Besançon, standing at 6 rue Pasteur inside La Boucle, the old city center wrapped by a bend of the Doubs river. Layers of construction spanning five centuries survive here side by side, from a medieval cellar to a refined 18th-century street façade, making it one of the more telling examples of bourgeois residential architecture in the Franche-Comté region.

What should visitors know before stopping by?

Despite the word "hôtel" in its name, this is not a hotel in the modern sense but a former private mansion, named after the family that gave the building its present form in the 18th century. It's a listed historic monument, and its grand staircase is regarded as one of the more valuable surviving interior features in Besançon.

What does the building actually look like?

The street-facing façade is built in dressed ashlar stone, while the rest of the structure relies on rubble masonry. The layout is irregular: a right wing runs perpendicular to the street, and a shorter left wing closes off the courtyard on the other side. Entry is through a gateway set into the surrounding wall. The street elevation follows the Louis XVI style, giving it a lightness and symmetry typical of the late 18th century — a contrast with the heavier, older structural elements hidden further inside the building.

Where do all these historical layers come from?

The oldest surviving fragments date to the 13th century, when a building linked to the administration of justice stood on the site. The right wing still holds a vaulted cellar with three bays of ribbed vaulting and roof timber framing dated to the 15th or 16th century, while the main block preserves a large 17th-century fireplace. The building only took its current shape between 1741 and 1742, when Pierre Augustin Chappuis, Marquis de Rosières and president of the regional parliament, commissioned a rebuild of the right wing. The street elevation from that campaign was designed by Charles-François Longin, the city's surveyor-architect at the time. A second wave of modernization followed in 1789, when the marquis brought in architect Claude-Antoine Colombot to update the façade further and rearrange the interiors in keeping with the fashion of the day.

What happened to the building afterward?

In 1850, the property was bought by the banker Aaron Veil-Picard, who around 1858 added a new wing along the left side of the courtyard. During the 20th century, the interior of the right wing was repeatedly repurposed — first fitted out as a cinema, later converted into a shopping arcade — a sign of how readily this former private residence adapted to the city's changing commercial needs.

Who was born here?

The Hôtel de Rosières is the birthplace of Joseph Droz, a moralist, historian, and member of the Académie française. A commemorative plaque was placed on the main façade in 1886 to mark the fact, and it remains one of the few details visible from the street that hints at the building's place in the region's intellectual history.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors go inside the Hôtel de Rosières? The building today serves private and commercial functions, so interior access can be limited. It's worth checking current conditions locally or with the tourist office before planning a visit around it.

Why is the building called "de Rosières"? The name comes from Pierre Augustin Chappuis, Marquis de Rosières, president of the parliament, who commissioned the major rebuilding of the right wing in 1741–1742.

What is the most notable architectural feature? The formal staircase, built in masonry and richly decorated in the Louis XVI style, is the element specifically protected under the building's historic monument listing.

How do you get to the Hôtel de Rosières? It stands at 6 rue Pasteur, inside La Boucle — Besançon's historic core encircled by the Doubs river — close to several other townhouses from the same architectural period.