Vesoul

Vesoul (French pronunciation: [vəzul] və-ZOOL) is a commune in the predominantly rural Haute-Saône department, of which it is the prefecture, or capital, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is the most populous municipality of the department, with 15,078 inhabitants in 2023. The Communauté d'agglomération de Vesoul, which covers 20 municipalities, together had 32,339 inhabitants (2022), while its functional area, comprising 158 municipalities, had 67,202 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are known in French as Vésuliens. Built on top of the hill of La Motte in the first millennium under the name of Castrum Vesulium, the city gradually evolved into a European commercial and economic center. At the end of the Middle Ages, the city experienced a challenging period beset with plagues, epidemics, and localized conflict. The main urban center of the department, Vesoul is also home to a major PSA parts manufacturing plant and to the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema. It was immortalized by Jacques Brel in his 1968 song "Vesoul".