Dole, Administrative division in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
Dole is a town in the Jura department that stretches along the Doubs River and is threaded by a network of canals. The old town clusters around the Notre-Dame church and is marked by narrow lanes lined with houses from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The town served as the capital of the Free County of Burgundy until 1676 and housed the parliament and a university. After the French conquest, it lost these functions to Besançon but kept its role as a trading center on the river.
The birthplace of Louis Pasteur stands beside the canal and now serves as a museum, guiding visitors through the rooms where the scientist spent his childhood. Along the waterfront promenade, you can see old tanneries with wooden balconies still leaning over the water.
The central area is easy to walk around, and several car parks sit at the edge of the old town. A walk through the narrow streets takes around two hours, longer if you visit museums or stroll along the canal.
The Notre-Dame basilica has a freestanding bell tower that rises 75 meters (246 feet) above the town and is visible from almost anywhere in the center. From the upper part of the tower, you can see the loops of the Doubs and the hills all around.
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