Dole tourist information
The name of the town comes from the surroundings : a limestone ledge which overhangs the Doubs river by about 20 meters. Though the place did not have a strategic military position in the 11th century, the Earl of Burgundy decided to build a castle to have a view of the comings and goings down the river. A community thereafter settled at this crossing with the old roman way leading from Besançon to Châlon.
In the 13th century, the urban life was developed around a pole formed by the Collegiate Church, the covered markets, the cemetery and the butchers’ shops. At the beginning of the 15th century, this place was restored to make a building to house Parliament sittings. The town, then capital of the Comté region, was experiencing a real golden age. In the 16th century, after the siege of 1479, many works were ordered to rebuild the town : civil and religious buildings, fortifications, etc… The foundation of numerous religious communities made Dole a bastion of the Catholic Reform. In the 17th century, there were up to 12 convents.Their impact on the intellectual and spiritual life influenced Dole’s cadastre.
With the French conquest and the peace signature of Nimègue in 1678, the region of Franche-Comté was permanently attached to the Kingdom of France. Dole lost its role of capital to Besançon and King Louis the 14th ordered the destruction of the city walls. The town was freed and new places appeared. But the urban modifications stayed modest because the town had lost its importance. Private dwellings were still numerous because of the Chamber of Accounts, which kept rich families in Dole.
In the 19th century, the industries of the town developed late and new buildings such as the theatre and the railway station were created on the edge of the old centre. This part has undergone little transformation. Dole had to wait until the beginning of the 20th century to see its inner suburb become obvious. The town grew rapidly in the 50’s, and in the 60’s-70’s with the creation of the Mesnils-Pasteur district. A few beautiful architectural developments are evidence of this expansion : The Church of Saint-Jean the Evangelist by Anton Korady (1964), the Jacques Duhamel High School by Christian Schouvey (1992) and more recently the Bridge of the Cornice (1995). In 1967, a protected area was outlined. Its 114 hectares allow protection for the old town and its surroundings.
Dole aerial map
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