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 15,212 inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglomération de Vesoul, which covers 20 municipalities, together had 34,310 inhabitants, while its urban area, comprising 78 municipalities, had 59,244 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,^{[citation needed]} 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".

Vesoul is first mentioned in a document dated 899. That document describes an elevation with a fortified watchtower and speaks of "Castrum Vesulium". Castrum is a fortification, and "Vesulium" has the syllable ves which meant hill or mountain in a language that was spoken before the Celts. Today, there is a castle that forms the centre of the city. The first houses were built inside the walls of the castle. Newcomers who found no place settled outside the city walls, on the flanks of the hill. Wine growing was popular.

The town was severely affected by the plague in 1586. It became part of France in 1678.

In 1814, after the fall of the First French Empire, a buffer state was created, with Vesoul as its capital. The principality was that of Franche-Comté, of the Vosges and of Porrentruy.

Today, one of the main factories of Stellantis, formerly an installation of PSA Peugeot Citroën, is near Vesoul.