Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The municipal attic of Besançon, also known as the attic of abundance, is an 18th-century neoclassical building built between 1720 and 1726 on the plans of Jean-François Charron, professor of mathematics, and military architect Isaac Robelin. It was designed to replace a wheat attic of the Town Hall that became too small, and was part of a period when the city feared famine, especially in times of war. Its stone façade of Chailluz, typical of Besançon, has carved motifs evoking agricultural abundance, with representations of Latin goddesses such as Pomone and Proserpine.

Starting in the 1860s, the building hosted the National Clock School, created to meet the needs of the growing local watch industry. The school remained there until 1933, when it was transferred to a new Art Deco school. At the same time, in 1860, the municipality established a municipal music school, which evolved in 1968 to become the National Conservatory of Region, later run by Grand Besançon Métropole. The conservatory left in 2013 for the Cité des Arts.

In 1929, the attic was added to the historic monuments for its facade and roof, and in 1933 for its surroundings (quai Vauban), an architectural and functional testimony to the urban adaptations of Besançon. After 2013, the city sold it in 2016 to a local company for a project combining coffee-restaurant and offices, as part of a rehabilitation coordinated with the nearby art museum. His clock and Latin motto "Utinam" (Plaise à Dieu) still today recall his historic role of protection against shortages.

The neo-classical facade, decorated with agricultural symbols, reflects the strategic importance of wheat reserves in the 18th century. The vantals of the portal, carved of baskets of fruit and d ́épis, underline this first vocation. The building, with its four levels and its 2000 m2, also illustrates the evolution of public uses: from attic to wheat to place of formation, then to cultural space, before its contemporary conversion.

Its inscription in historical monuments covers both the structure itself and adjacent urban elements, such as the Vauban wharf, demonstrating its integration into the bisontin heritage. The Chailluz stone, a local material, and the triangular pediment with its mechanical clock make it a remarkable example of the utilitarian and symbolic architecture of the modern era in Franche-Comté.

External links