Visit Beaune, Capital of Burgundy Wines and city of art, and wander through its typical cobblestone streets. Within its ramparts the charming town of Beaune reveals its historical mansions, medieval half-timbered houses, flowered squares and gardens… Beaune is a city where strolling is a pleasure!
Beaune offers an exceptional heritage and invites you to discover its monuments and museums. Don’t miss the Collegiale Notre Dame Basilica, the Wine Museum and last but not least the Hôtel-Dieu (Beaune Hospices), that still bears witness to the past when the power of the Duke of Burgundy stretched from Flanders to the Netherlands.
Beneath the cobblestone streets lies a treasure that every visitor has to visit! Since the Middle-Ages Beaune is deeply involved in wine culture and trade, and became centre of international wine trade in the 18th century. Thus, Beaune has been designated Capital of Burgundy Wines where wine growers and merchants invite you to discover their wine cellars and taste their best wines*.
Discover also museums and production sites dedicated to local specialities such as Cassis, mustard or Crémant.
Dijon invites you to a feast of senses! Watch the colors of the glazed roofs, touch the history of the Dukes of Burgundy, hear the tinkling of glasses in a cellar, feel the nature near the Burgundy canal and taste the delights of Burgundian terroir...
In Roman times Dijon (Dibio) was a fortified post on the road from Lyons to Mainz. After many centuries of vicissitudes it became part of the duchy of Burgundy in the 11th century and was soon raised to the status of its capital.
As the ancient capital of Burgundy, Dijon is an architecturally rich city offering far more than mustard. In its restored medieval core, you'll discover one of France's oldest museums, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, as well as the elegant Palace of the Dukes and the opulent 1614 mansion Hôtel de Vogue. Take a quiet walk through the lime- and chestnut-lined paths of Cours du Parc, a green space dating back to 1671, and don't forget to sample the region's gastronomic delights.
Dijon, once capital of the duchy of Burgundy and now chief town of the département of Côte-d'Or, the see of a bishop and a university town, lies in hilly country at the junction of the rivers Ouche and Suzon. It preserves many buildings of the ducal period which are among the finest in France. Dijon is also an industrial town.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, under Dukes Philip the Bold (1364-1404), John the Fearless (1404- 1419), Philip the Good (1419-1467) and Charles the Bold (1467-1477), Dijon enjoyed a first cultural growth.
At the end of the 18th century the English traveller Arthur Young wrote: "Dijon, on the whole, is a handsome town; the streets, though old built, are wide and very well paved, with the addition, uncommon in France, of trottoirs." At that time Dijon had no more than 20,000 inhabitants. It was only in the mid 19th century, with the increase in trade and traffic, that it began to develop into the large city that we see today.
Found in the Ducal Palace is the Musée des Beaux-Arts, one of France's premier fine arts museums.
Notre Dame is a 13th C Burgundian Gothic church with a clock tower featuring mechanical figures.
The Palais des Ducs is a creation of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, built in the late 17th and early 18th C.
