Belfort: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 67 - 186 Novotel Belfort Centre Atria
 This 3-star hotel is in the heart of Belfort, 5 minutes from the famous Lion of Belfort and 45 minutes from the Bâle-Mulhouse Airport.
Ideal for a b… MoreEUR 40 - 55 Premiere Classe Belfort
 Easily accessible from the A36 motorway and a few minutes from the town centre, Hotel Première Classe Belfort is the perfect choice for leisure or bu… MoreEUR 49 - 85 Kyriad Belfort
 Kyriad Belfort is located in the centre of town near the train station. It offers free Wi-Fi internet access and 24 –hour reception.
All of the roo… MoreEUR 34 - 43 Hotel de Belfort
 Hotel Balladins Belfort is located 2 kilometres from Belfort town centre and its Lion de Belfort sculpture. It offers rooms and suites with satellite … MoreEUR 59 - 143 Best Western Hôtel
 Located in Belfort town centre, this Best Western Hotel is opposite the SNCF train station. It offers air-conditioned rooms with a contemporary décor… MoreEUR 64 - 149 Grand Hôtel Du Tonneau D´Or
 The Grand Hotel Du Tonneau D´Or is an elegant hotel with neo-classical charm and modern accommodation. Nestled in Belfort, it is surrounded by t… MoreEUR 46 - 121 All Seasons Belfort Centre
 Located in the city center, approximately 10 minutes from historic monuments and close to the industrial activity zone with Alstom, G-Energy and Nipso… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Belfort: Guide
Belfort is a town and département in the Franche-Comté région in France|région. Population (1999): 50,417. Approximately 80,000 including suburbs.
It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône River|Rhône - the Belfort Gap (Trouée de Belfort} or Burgundian Gate (Porte de Bourgogne).
History
Belfort's strategic location, in a natural gap between the Vosges and the Jura mountains|Jura, on a route linking the Rhine and the Rhône, has attracted human settlement and made it a target for armies.
The site of Belfort was inhabited in Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman times and was subsequently recorded in the 13th century as a possession of the counts of Montbéliard, who granted it a charter in 1307.
Previously an Austrian possession, Belfort was transferred to France by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), that ended the Thirty Years' War. The town's fortifications were extended and developed by the military architect Vauban for Louis XIV.
Until 1871, Belfort was part of the département of Haut-Rhin, in Alsace. The Siege of Belfort, between November 3, 1870 and February 18, 1871, was successfully resisted until the garrison was ordered to surrender 21 days after the armistice between France and Prussia. As a mark of respect for their tenacity, the area around Belfort was excluded from the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine by the Prussians. It formed, as it still does, the Territoire de Belfort. The siege is commemorated by a huge statue, The Lion of Belfort, by Frédéric Bartholdi.
Alsatians who sought a new French home in Belfort made a significant contribution to its industry.
The town was bombarded by the Germans in World War I and occupied by them in World War II. In November 1944 the retreating German army held the French First Army before the town until French Commandos made a successful night attack on the Salbert Fort. Belfort was liberated on 22 November.
Industry
Belfort is a trading centre for wine and grain and its industries include chemicals, engineering, plastics and textiles. Belfort is also the hometown of Alstom where the first TGVs (Trains Grande Vitesse) were produced.
Sights
Belfort is the home of The Lion of Belfort, a sculpture by Frédéric Bartholdi expressing people's resistance against the siege in the Franco-Prussian War (1870).
FIMU
Belfort is also well known for organizing a large-scale music festival in May each year. The Festival International de Musique Universitaire (FIMU) is home to nearly 2500 musicians, most of them students, from many different countries. The musicians give more than 250 concerts in the course of the 3-day festival in a wide variety of styles (classical, jazz, traditional, experimental, etc.). All of the concerts are free of charge and are performed at 14 different locations in the old city (the vieille ville) of Belfort. In 2004 more than 60,000 people attended the festival. In 2005 the festival was held on 14–16th May.
Miscellaneous
Births
Belfort was the birthplace of:
François Joseph Heim (1787-1865), painter
Captain Jules Brunet (1838-1911), a member of the first Second French Empire|French military mission to be sent to the Empire of Japan in order to help modernize the armies of the shogunate
Louis-Gabriel-Charles Vicaire (1848-1900), poet
Jean-Pierre Chevènement (born 1939), politician
Twin towns
Belfort is twinned with:
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Lobenstein, Thuringia, Germany
Skikda, Algeria
Stafford, UK
Delémont, Switzerland
External links
(in French)
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Belfort". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.