Burgundy is lucky enough to have a name that resounds through history. Its rich and unusually varied heritage is well known.
From Gallic remains to Romanesque spires, from the treasures of artistic cities to the splendours of the region's castles, with its industrial heritage and future-oriented creation, Burgundy is a land of endless variety.
From prehistoric hunters to the Gauls and the Romans
Burgundy was at the heart of Celtic history. It was the scene of decisive events in the Roman conquest of Gaul. The treasure of the Lady of Vix, the ex-votos at the sources of the River Seine and the fortifications at Bibracte all bear witness to an influence stretching back over two millennia.
But long before the first Celts arrived, Solutrean hunters were producing such technical feats as the Volgu flint blades and some of the world's oldest paintings in the Arcy-sur-Cure caves.
In the footsteps of monks and dukes
The two most important monastic movements in the Middle Ages were born in Burgundy. In the 10th and 12th centuries Cluny then Cîteaux were major spiritual, intellectual, artistic and even political centres for all Europe.
And Burgundy owes many of its major wines to monks, including the famous Clos de Vougeot.
From the 13th century, the Capetian dukes of Burgundy developed a strong feudal state, with Dijon and Beaune as its capitals and with numerous fortresses. Their successors, the Valois, known as the "Grands Ducs" (Great Dukes) transformed the original dukedom into a political stronghold extending to the North Sea, between the kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire. .
The splendour of chateaux and literary glory
The chateaux in the midst of their parks recall the relations, both strong and distant, between Burgundy and the royal power before the French Revolution.
Famous people such as Vauban, Buffon and Madame de Sévigné, Lamartine and Romain Rolland, Colette and Jules Roy will be your guides to a region that has inspired men and women of letters.
In this Burgundy that is deeply attached to its rural roots, museums and reconstitutions are a chance to see how peasants and winemakers, millers and craftspeople once lived and worked.