Montbeliard town guide
MONTBELIARD
Visitors by hire car who are driving Peugeots may be bringing their vehicles back to where they were made. Montbeliard, very near Belfort in North eastern France is basically an industrial town. Amongst the hurly burly of a busy place however visitors will find some very attractive and interesting architecture. There is strong Germanic influence here as Montbellard is not far from the German border and has only been part of France since 1763.
There is a fine chateau, Chateau des Ducs de Wurtemberg which is now a museum and houses a collection telling the story of Georges Culvier who was a French version of Charles Darwin and was born in the town. Visitors will notice the old houses around the chateau which have been repainted in their original bright colours, they have strange spiral staircases which were designed to save space at a time when the amount of tax paid in this area was related to space in one's house.
Montbeliard celebrates Christmas in big way; there is a special market around the Saint Martin Church and every two years (The uneven number ones) there is a large exhibition of mechanical moving sculptures. There is also a special Christmas Labyrinth in the Parc du Pres La Rose.
