Dijon City Map Poster

About Dijon

Dijon is ranked among the top 200 cities in the world. The Dijon area has been inhabited since Neolithic times, about 5,000 years ago. Stone Age and Celtic tribes settled there before 1000 BC; then a Gallo-Roman town called "Divio" was built on the site of today's Dijon. In 1431 it became capital of Burgundy (until 1710), until it lost its status with French Revolution which annexed Bourgogne to France as a département . The city grew considerably during the 11th century through trade and construction associated with Duke Philip II (1060–1108) and his son King Louis VII (1115–1137). In 1205, after Philip's death from an accident riding home from war against Flanders , his son Philippe le Hardi moved his court to Dijon—a rare move among medieval capitals—and under him began building what would become one of Europe's largest cathedrals: Notre Dame de Dijon , whose crypt houses their remains.