Description

R(...) of the clock and
watch makers of Besançon and of the
Besançon local authorities, a presidential
decree of 11 March 1878 created at
Besançon a new 'astronomical, meteorological and
chronometrical observatory'. Chronometry was at
the origins of this new establishment and explains
its originality. The clock and watch-making capital
of France now had a tool to control its products and
improve their qualities.

One hundred and thirty years later, the departmental
centre of the French weather-forecasting services for
the Doubs and the Besançon observatory are still
pursuing their original aims. The establishment
today has a staff of about forty people, involved in
astrophysics and time-frequency studies. At the request
of local manufacturers, it has recently re-instated the
certification of time pieces. This publication offers a
history of the observatory and a glimpse of its rich
architectural and instrumental heritage.

The Inventory is a service charged with the identification
and the study of the French heritage and with sharing
knowledge about this heritage. The collection entitled
Parcours du Patrimoine is designed as a tool of cultural
tourism, a guide to the discovery of new aspects of the
French heritage.