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Vesoul
Vesoul (French pronunciation: [vəzul] və-ZOOL) is a commune in the overwhelmingly rural Haute-Saône department, of which it is the prefecture, or capital, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France. It is the most populated municipality of the department, with 15,212 inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglomération de Vesoul, which covers 20 municipalities, together had 34,310 inhabitants, while its urban area, comprising 78 municipalities, had 59,244 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,[citation needed] 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. The 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". HistoryVesoul is first mentioned in a document dated 899. That document describes an elevation with a fortified watchtower and speaks of "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. The town was severely affected by the plague in 1586. It became part of France in 1678.[3] 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 eastern part of France, about 100 kilometers away from the Germany and the Switzerland border and between the Jura and the Vosges's mountain ranges. Vesoul is also situated in the center of the Haute-Saône, which is in the nord of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Inside of this region, Vesoul is included in the Pays de Vesoul et du Val de Saône, a geographical region composing of the Vesoul's area and the northern part of the river Saône. By the road, Vesoul is 32 kilometres (20 mi) from Luxeuil-les-Bains, 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Lure and 59 kilometres (37 mi) from Gray, which are the main towns close to Vesoul. Relative to the bigger cities in the French East region, Vesoul is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Besançon, 64 kilometres (40 mi) from Belfort, 105 kilometres (65 mi) from Dijon, and 156 kilometres (97 mi) from Nancy.[4] Equidistant from Dijon and Mulhouse, Vesoul is 370 kilometres (230 mi) away from the city of Paris. The town of Vesoul is at the intersection of national roads N19 and N57. Vesoul station is on the SNCF Paris–Mulhouse railway line, and has connections with Paris, Belfort, Mulhouse and Chaumont. The Vesoul area is also included in the Pôle métropolitain Centre Franche-Comté which is a government structure unifying the biggest areas of central Franche-Comté. Nine communes border the town of Vesoul. Vesoul is crossed by four watercourses : two rivers (Durgeon and Colombine) and two streams (Vaugine and Méline). All four are tributaries and sub-tributaries of the Saône, the fourth longest river in France at 473 kilometers long and a tributary of the Rhone,[5] which flows at about ten kilometers from the western side of Vesoul.[6] Governance and politicsMayorsTwin towns
Administrative divisionPopulation and society
Demography
MediaVesoul 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!" ("heat up, Marcel, heat up!") at his accordionist, Marcel Azzola. The town is also mentioned facetiously in the satirical rap Fous ta cagoule by Michael Youn.[9] Sport
EducationVesoul has schools of higher education. The city has 1,200 students divided between an IUT, an IUFM, an Institute of Nursing Training, a School of Management and Commerce and BTS. All schools and studies in Vesoul
Culture and heritage    Monuments and tourist attractions
 FestivalLibraryThe first public library of Vesoul opened in 1771. The abbé (abbot) Bardenet, superior of the Saint-Esprit hospital in Besançon, gave his book collection to the town. There were 1772 books. The collections became a lot larger with the Revolution. At that time, the revolutionaries (people who led the French Revolution) took the books from the monasteries of the town (capucins) and even of the region (Luxeuil and Faverney monasteries). Around 20,000 books were added to the library this way, including some 11th century manuscripts. The Mayor's office was responsible for keeping the books. 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 
Notable people
Awards
Climate
See alsoReferences
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vesoul.
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