Malcombe

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Malcombe is a recreational sports area west of Besançon, in eastern France, in the Planoise neighborhood.

In August 1336, the Duke of Burgundy tried to capture Besançon after a dispute with the Franche-Comté clergy. He sent about 9,000 horsemen to the area around Saint-Ferjeux near Planoise. The people of Besançon defended the city for months at Malcombe, and the duke abandoned the attempt and made a truce. Hundreds of Besançon residents were killed and buried there, so the site was called “combe du malheur,” meaning valley of misfortune, later shortened to Malcombe.

In 1976, Besançon built a recreational area on the site for the Planoise neighborhood, including three football fields, a beach volleyball area, a volleyball court, a climbing room, and an archery field.