Ville d'Auxonne

Located on the left bank of the river Saône, between Burgundy and Franche-Comté, Auxonne has been a border town fortified in 1673 by the Count of Aspremont according to the first Vauban system. Then, Vauban preserved the Porte de Comté, finished the fortifications, completed the Porte Royale and built the artillery arsenal as well as barracks in the courtyard of Château Louis XI.In 1788, the Auxonne Artillery School welcomed Napoleon Bonaparte, young Lieutenant in the Régiment de la Fère. Those monuments are evocative of Auxonne's military past, but the town centre possesses other treasures, including the remarkable Church Notre-Dame, which was built in the 13th and 14th centuries and has a twisted bell tower whose spire culminates at 70 metres, and City Hall, a former home for the Dukes of Burgundy. Renaissance,Empire-style houses and half-timbered, brick and stone buildings, illustrate how the town has changed over time.