Dijon

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• Pécs
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• Reggio Emilia
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• Białystok
• Skopje
• Chefchaouen

History

The earliest archaeological finds within the city limits of Dijon date to the Neolithic period. Dijon later became a Roman settlement called Divio, which may mean sacred fountain, located on the road from Lyon to Paris. Saint Benignus, the city's apocryphal 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 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 with Dijon Abbey playing an influential role. The Duchy of Burgundy was key in the transformation of medieval times toward early modern Europe. 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). 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. The siege was extremely violent, but the town succeeded in resisting the invaders. 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. During the siege, the population called on the Virgin Mary for help and saw the town's successful resistance and the subsequent withdrawal of the invaders as a miracle. 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). Although a few areas of the town were destroyed, there are nearly no signs of the siege of 1513 visible today. However, Dijon's museum of fine arts has a large tapestry depicting this episode in the town's…

Geography

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. Farther south is the côte, or hillside, of vineyards that gives the department its name. Dijon lies southeast of Paris, northwest of Geneva, and north of Lyon. Dijon features an oceanic climate (Cfb) with continental influence under the Köppen climate classification. The city is highly influenced by its position far inland in Northeastern France. 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.

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,543
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,285
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,159
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,069
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  871
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  847
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  786
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  649

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2016-12-03
  2 km SE of Damparis, France
• M 2.7 — 2008-07-22
  3 km N of Devecey, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-02-21
  3 km S of Longchamp, France
• M 2.7 — 2007-07-26
  9 km SSE of Poligny, France
• M 3.2 — 2007-01-15
  5 km ENE of Frotey-lès-Vesoul, France
• M 2.6 — 2006-12-18
  2 km ENE of Ladoix-Serrigny, France