Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame of Dole (Collégiale Notre-Dame de Dole) and medieval houses reflecting in a canal in the tanners' romantic district (Petite Venise), Medieval old town of Dole, Jura, Franche Comté (Franche Comte), Eastern France. - stock photo

Dole is a commune in the Jura département, of which it is a subprefecture, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Dole was the former capital of Franche-Comté until 1676, when Louis XIV conquered the region and shifted the parlement from Dole to Besançon. The old university, founded by Duke Philippe le Bon of Burgundy in 1422, was also transferred to Besançon at that time. Dole is famous for its historical center which includes a collegiate church and picturesque streets and the romantic tanners' district (called Little Venice) where restaurants and medieval houses are lined along a canal and the remains of the medieval fortifications. The city has two museums, including one dedicated to Louis Pasteur, a native of the city. The Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame of Dole (Collégiale Notre-Dame de Dole) is the main church of Dole, built in the XVIth century in a gothic-renaissance hybrid style. It is classified as an historical monument since 1910.