22 Facts About Dijon

1.

Dijon is the prefecture of the Cote-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region in Northeastern France.

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2.

Dijon later became a Roman settlement named Divio, located on the road between Lyon and Paris.

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3.

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.

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4.

Dijon's architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons made of tiles glazed in terracotta: green, yellow, and black and arranged in geometric patterns.

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5.

Dijon holds an International and Gastronomic Fair every year in the northern-hemisphere autumn.

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6.

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

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7.

However, Dijon's museum of fine arts has a large tapestry depicting this episode in the town's history: it shows the town before all subsequent destruction and is an example of 16th-century art.

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8.

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.

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9.

Dijon architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons made of tiles glazed in terracotta, green, yellow and black and arranged in geometric patterns.

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10.

Dijon was largely spared the destruction of wars such as the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and the Second World War, despite the city being occupied.

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11.

Dijon is home to many museums, including the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Dijon in part of the Ducal Palace .

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12.

Grand Theatre de Dijon, built in 1828 and one of the main performing venues of the Opera de Dijon, was declared a monument historique of France in 1975.

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13.

Dijon is an important railway junction for lines from Paris to Lyon and Marseille, and the east–west lines to Besancon, Belfort, Nancy, Switzerland, and Italy.

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14.

Dijon holds its International and Gastronomic Fair every year in autumn.

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15.

Dijon is home, every three years, to the international flower show Florissimo.

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16.

Dijon has numerous museums such as the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, the Musee Archeologique, the Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne, the Musee d'Art Sacre, and the Musee Magnin.

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17.

Dijon is home to the prominent contemporary art centre Le Consortium, a fine-arts school, as well as a number of art galleries like the Fonds regional d'art contemporain, which holds a permanent collection including pieces by locally established artist Yan Pei-Ming.

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18.

Dijon mustard is not necessarily produced near Dijon, as the term is regarded as genericized under European Union law, so that it cannot be registered for protected designation of origin status.

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19.

The road from Santenay to Dijon is known as the "route des Grands Crus", where eight of the world's top ten most expensive wines are produced, according to Wine Searcher.

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20.

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.

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21.

Dijon is home to the Dijon Ducs ice hockey team, who play in the Magnus League.

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22.

JDA Dijon is a French basketball club, based in Dijon.

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