Dijon

Dijon (UK: /ˈdiːʒɒ̃/, US: /diːˈʒoʊn/;[2][3] French: [diʒɔ̃] ⓘ; in Burgundian: Digion)[a] is a city that serves as the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.

The province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th centuries, and Dijon became a place of tremendous wealth and power, one of the great European centres of art, learning, and science.

[5] The city has retained varied architectural styles from many of the main periods of the past millennium, including Capetian, Gothic, and Renaissance.

Dijon's architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons (Burgundian polychrome roofs) made of glazed terracotta tiles of various colours arranged in geometric patterns.

[7] This province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century, and Dijon was a place of tremendous wealth and power and one of the great European centres of art, learning, and science.

The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy now houses the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) and the musée des Beaux-Arts (Museum of Fine Arts).

[8] In 1513, Swiss and Imperial armies invaded Burgundy and besieged Dijon, which was defended by the governor of the province, Louis II de la Trémoille.

After long negotiations, Louis II de la Trémoille managed to persuade the Swiss and the Imperial armies to withdraw their troops and also to return three hostages who were being held in Switzerland.

For those reasons, in the years following the siege, the inhabitants of Dijon began to venerate Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope).

[12] Dijon is situated at the heart of a plain drained by two small converging rivers: the Suzon, which crosses it mostly underground from north to south, and the Ouche, on the southern side of town.

Thus, winters are cool to cold with moderate frosts at night and thawing conditions during the day while summers are warm to hot and humid with frequent thunderstorms.

The city has retained varied architectural styles from many of the main periods of the past millennium, including Capetian, Gothic and Renaissance.

Dijon architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons (Burgundian polychrome roofs) made of glazed terracotta tiles of various colours arranged in geometric patterns.

Therefore, many of the old buildings such as the half-timbered houses dating from the 12th to the 15th centuries (found mainly in the city's core district) are undamaged, at least by organized violence.

It contains, among other things, ducal kitchens dating back to the mid-15th century, and a substantial collection of primarily European art, from Roman times through the present.

In addition to the connection to the Atlantic via the Seine it has navigable water connections to the Mediterranean—via the Saône to the Rhône river at Lyon and further south (ultimately west to the Atlantic via the Canal du Midi)—Germany and central Europe—via the Rhône-Rhine canal—plus west to the centre and river Loire via the Canal du Centre.

Burgundy is a world-famous wine growing region, and notable vineyards, such as Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin, are within 20 minutes of the city center.

The Palais des Sports de Dijon serves as playground for the team and hosted international basketball events such as the FIBA EuroBasket 1999 in the past.

Porte Guillaume ( Guillaume Gate ), Place Darcy ( Darcy Square ), in the center of Dijon.
View of the spire of Dijon Cathedral, showing roofs with polychrome tiles.
A jar of Dijon mustard