History and Civilization
This is one of the most historical cities in France; and it’s so visibly historical that, after several days of wandering through old streets and gawking at Gothic architecture, you will get accustomed to this old days décor and come to miss it after leaving it.
- Dijon began as a Roman settlement called Divio, located on the road from Lyon to Mainz. Saint Benignus, the city’s patron saint, is said to have introduced Christianity to the area before being martyred. This province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th century AD until the late 1400s and Dijon was a place of tremendous wealth and power and one of the great European centers of art, learning and science.
- When Philip the Bold received the duchy of Burgundy as a legacy, he established the House of Valois as the second ducal dynasty in a fiefdom which was already well organized. Yet Dijon’s role was not primordial; Beaune was the seat of the Burgundy Parliament, whereas more northerly cities were the region’s economic motors and Philip’s marriage to Margaret of Flanders strengthened these ties. The dukes spent little time in Dijon, preoccupied with establishing their authority in recalcitrant corners of their realm, but they did much to develop the city’s cultural heritage. The family tombs are in the Chartreuse de Champmol, their sumptuous palace still hosts splendid festivities; the Sainte Chapelle is the headquarters of the Order of the Golden Fleece (that’s what Cote d’Or means in French, and is the order that Philip the Bold created in 1404 to draw Burgundy closer to the Church and to strengthen the duchy’s position in regard to the English crown, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France). Manufacturing also grew in the city, and as trade prospered wealthy merchants built mansions which still stand today along rue des Forges, rue Vauban, rue Verrerie and rue Berbisey.
- Change came when the duchy became an integral part of the kingdom of France. The local population rose up against annexation by Louis XI, and suffered at the hands of the King’s troops. But certain concessions were won: the Etats de Bourgogne (regional assembly made up of representatives from the Clergy, the Nobility and the Third Estate) was maintained in the old ducal palace, along with various other privileges and, most importantly, the Burgundy Parliament was transferred from Beaune to Dijon. The King visited Saint-Benigne in 1479 and solemnly swore to preserve "the freedoms, liberties, protections, rights and privileges" previously enjoyed by the duchy. Nonetheless, he did build a fortress, repair the fortifications and appoint a governor.
- As an administrative center, seat of the princes of Conde, Dijon underwent significant urban development in the 17C and 18C. Jules Hardouin-Mansart (architect of Versailles) and later his brother-in-law Robert de Cotte rebuilt the ducal palace as the splendid Palais des Etats de Bourgogne on a monumental esplanade (where you can now sit and enjoy the palace at one of the new cafes where cars used to park) then known as Place Royale. Local officials and parliamentarians built many of the fine houses that give Dijon its character. In 1725, Dijon became the Episcopal See. Under the Revolution, the Chartreuse de Champmol was destroyed; during the periods of the Empire and Restoration, the city remained largely unchanged. In 1850, the construction of the railway from Paris through Dijon and to the Mediterranean brought new life and new people; the population doubled between 1850 and 1852, as the industrial era took hold.