Dijon (anc. Divio), a town of France, formerly capital of the duchy of Burgundy, now of the department of Cote-d'Or, situated at the confluence of the rivers Ouche and Suzon, on the railway from Paris to Lyons, 160 m. S. E. of Paris; pop. in 1866, 39,193. It is of an oval form, with several suburbs, and lies at the foot of a chain of mountains in a fertile vale. It is generally well built, has numerous handsome public places and elegant houses, is enclosed by ramparts, and its environs furnish delightful promenades. It contains many remarkable buildings, the principal of which are the cathedral, formerly the Cistercian abbey of St. Benigne, a massive edifice founded in 535 and rebuilt in the 12th century, and again in the 13th, which contains the magnificent mausoleums of Philip the Bold and of John the Fearless; the church of Notre Dame, built in the 13th and 14th centuries; the church of St. Michael, which dates from the 16th century, remarkable for its front and its castle-like solidity; an ancient castle, the work of Louis XL, which served for a time in the 18th century as the prison of the duchess de Maine, Mirabeau, and the chevalier d'Eon; and the ancient palace of the dukes of Burgundy, subsequently the palais des etats, now-occupied partly as a town hall and partly as a museum of painting and sculpture, containing numerous relics of the middle ages, and a library of 70,000 printed volumes and 800 to 900 MSS. The tower is now used as an observatory.

The hall of justice, an ancient edifice, was the parliament house of Burgundy. The theatre is one of the finest in France. Dijon is the seat of a bishop and of courts of appellate and original jurisdiction. It is well provided with benevolent and educational institutions, including two hospitals, an orphan asylum, two prisons, a cabinet of natural history, a botanic garden, a university with 16 professors and faculties of law, science, and literature, eight colleges, a normal school, and schools of fine arts and medicine. It has manufactories of linens, hosiery, vinegar, and candles, distilleries, bleacheries, sugar and wax refineries, tanneries, breweries, and establishments for the manufacture of liqueur de cassis or black-currant wine. It is the principal market for the sale of Burgundy wines, and there is also a large trade in grain, flour, and wool. - The origin of Dijon is traced back to times preceding the Roman dominion. Under Marcus Aurelius it was surrounded by walls flanked with towers, and it was embellished and enlarged by Aurelian. It was burned by the Saracens in the 8th century, sacked by the Normans in the 9th, and again ravaged by fire in 1127. It was for three centuries the residence of the dukes of Burgundy, by whom its present fortifications were constructed.

In 1513 it was besieged by the Swiss, and saved itself only by a humiliating treaty. On Oct. 30, 1870, there was a sharp encounter between a division of the German corps of Gen. Von Werder and the advance troops of the French army of Lyons, which led on the next day to the capitulation of the town and its occupation by the Germans. On the approach of the army of Bourbaki the town was evacuated by the Germans, Dec. 27. On Jan. 21 and 23, 1871, severe fighting again took place near Dijon between the Garibaldians and portions of the second German army corps; the latter were finally compelled to retreat, leaving behind them a flag, the only one lost in the war. Dijon is the birthplace of some of the most eminent men of France, including Bossuet, Crebillon the elder, Piron, Cazotte, Guyton de Morveau, and Maret, duke of Bassano.

Cathedral of Dijon.