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Dijon

Dijon

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Dijon is a city
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...

 in eastern France
France
France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...

, the capital of the Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or is a department in the eastern part of France.- History :Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy.- Geography :...

 département and of the Bourgogne
Bourgogne
Burgundy is one of the 26 regions of France.The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy. It is made up of the following old provinces:...

 region
Régions of France
France is administratively divided into 25 regions , of which 21 are on mainland France, and four are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

. Dijon is the historical capital of the province
Provinces of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces...

 of Burgundy. Population (2005): 150,800 for the commune; 236,953 for the greater Dijon area.

History


Dijon began as a Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...

 settlement called Divio, located on the road from Lyon
Lyon
||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...

 to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Saint Benignus
Benignus of Dijon
Saint Benignus of Dijon was a martyr honored as the patron saint and first herald of Christianity of Dijon, Burgundy . His feast falls, with All Saints, on November 1; his name stands under this date in the Martyrology of St. Jerome. No particulars concerning the person and life of Benignus were...

, the city's patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Patron saints, because they have already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges...

, is said to have introduced Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....

 to the area before being martyred. This province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks.-Bosonid dynasty:...

 from the early eleventh century AD
Anno Domini
, abbreviated as AD or A.D., and Before Christ, abbreviated as BC or B.C., are designations used to number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars....

 until the late 1400s and Dijon was a place of tremendous wealth and power and one of the great European centers of art, learning and science. It was occupied by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...

 between June 1940 and early 1945, when it was liberated by joint French
France
France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...

/UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...

/U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 forces.
The city itself was liberated on 11 September 1944.

Main sights


Dijon boasts a large number of churches and cathedrals, including St. Bénigne, Notre Dame de Dijon, St. Étienne, and St. Michel. The crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....

 of Dijon Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Benignus, dates from 1,000 years ago, and the city has retained many architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of form, techniques, materials, time period, region, etc. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture. In architectural history, the study of Gothic architecture, for instance, would include all...

s from many of the main periods from the past millennium, including Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

, Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, in which there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture.The Renaissance style places...

 and Capetian. Many of the still-inhabited houses in the city's central district date from before the 18th century.

Dijon was spared the destruction of various wars such as the 1870 Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between France and Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria...

, despite the fact that the Prussian army invaded the city. Therefore, many of the old buildings such as the half-timbered
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, is the method of creating framed structures of heavy timber jointed together with pegged mortise and tenon joints.- Naming :...

 houses dating from the 12th to the 15th century (found mainly in the city's core district) are undamaged, at least by organized violence.

There are many museums in the city, including one dedicated to mustard and steak. Another is the Musée des Beaux Arts in the old part of the Ducal Palace (see below). It contains, among other things, ducal kitchens that date back to the mid-1400s, and a collection of European paintings from the early Renaissance to the Impressionistic periods.

Among the more interesting of Dijon's sights is the Ducal Palace
Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy
The Palace of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy is a remarkably well-preserved architectural assemblage in Dijon...

, the Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne or "Palace of the Dukes and the States of Burgundy" , which is one of only a few remaining examples of the Capetian period in the region. Another is a curious carving of a little owl, la chouette, on the church of Notre Dame on the rue de la Préfecture. It is reported that this has become regarded as a good-luck charm: people touch it with their left hand and make a wish. The current carving is a copy as the original was destroyed the night of January 5 or 6 2001 by vandals. The current version is now protected by video surveillance
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors.It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point wireless links...

.

Transport


Dijon is located approximately one hour and 40 minutes southeast of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 by the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...

 high-speed train
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...

 (LGV Sud-Est
LGV Sud-Est
|}The LGV Sud-Est is a French high-speed passenger rail line, which links Paris and Lyon. The inauguration of the first section between Saint-Florentin and Sathonay on 22 September, 1981 marked the beginning of the re-invigoration of French passenger rail service.This line, subsequently extended...

) via Gare de Lyon. By car, it is about three hours from Paris. For comparison, Lyon is away and two hours distant - although there is no high-speed train link between both cities. Nice takes about six hours by TGV and Strasbourg about three hours at regular train speed.

Culture


Dijon holds the International and Gastronomic Fair every year. With over 500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors every year, this is one of the ten most important fairs in France. Dijon is also home, every three years, to the international flower show Florissimo
Florissimo
Florissimo is an international flower show held in the city of Dijon, France.It featured exhibits from French and non-French cities, botanical gardens, agricultural schools, and private corporations....

. Dijon also hosts the Fete de la Musique
Fête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.-History:The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the...

 (Music Festival) every summer, with live musical groups playing on street corners throughout the city centre.

To the northwest of Dijon, the race track
Race track
A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...

 of Dijon-Prenois
Dijon-Prenois
Dijon-Prenois is a 3.801 km motor racing circuit located in Prenois, near Dijon, France. The undulating track is noted for its fast, sweeping bends....

 hosts various motor sport
Motorsport
Motorsport is the collection of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles.Motorsport includes all forms of motor racing as well as non-racing motorized sports.-Motor racing:...

 events. It hosted the Formula 1
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants...

 French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix is a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One automobile racing championships....

 on four occasions from 1974 to 1984.

Dijon is home to Dijon FCO
Dijon FCO
Dijon Football Côte d'Or is a French football club, from Dijon, France. It was founded in 1998, from the fusion of the Cercle Dijon Football and Dijon FC. It is currently playing in the French Ligue 2....

, a soccer team
Football team
A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in a against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...

 in Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 is the second division of French football. It is one of two divisions making up the LFP, the other being Ligue 1, which is France's top division.The 20 clubs that make up Ligue 2 play each other twice during the season, creating a 38-match schedule...

, the second-highest league in French football
Football in France
Football in France is governed by the French Football Federation . The FFF organises both the men's and women's national football teams. Notably AS Monaco, a club from the independent sovereign state of Monaco, play in French competition...

. Dijon is better known for its national professional league basketball club (Pro A), JDA Dijon.

Dijon has numerous museums such as the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon is a museum of fine arts in Dijon. It is housed in the former hôtel des ducs de Bourgogne and the eastern part of the palais des états...

, the Musée Archéologique, the Musée de la Vie Bourguignonne, the Musée d'Art Sacré, and the Musée Magnin. It also contains approximately 700 hectares of parks and green space
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...

, including the fine Jardin botanique de l'Arquebuse
Jardin botanique de l'Arquebuse
The Jardin botanique de l'Arquebuse is a botanical garden and arboretum located at 1 Avenue Albert-Premier, Dijon, Côte-d'Or, Bourgogne, France. It is open daily without charge....

 (botanical garden) and the Serres de l'Université de Bourgogne
Serres de l'Université de Bourgogne
The Serres de l'Université de Bourgogne are greenhouse botanical gardens operated by the University of Burgundy. They are located at 8 rue du Recteur Marcel Bouchard, Dijon, Bourgogne, Côte-d'Or, France....

 (botanical greenhouses operated by the university).

Apart from the numerous bars, which sometimes have live bands, the main venues in Dijon are : Le zenith de Dijon, La Vapeur and l'Atheneum.

Colleges and universities

  • Dijon hosts the main campus of the University of Burgundy
    University of Burgundy
    The University of Burgundy is a university located in Dijon, France.The University of Burgundy is situated on a large campus called Campus Montmuzard, 15 minutes by bus from the City Centre. The Humanities and Sciences are well represented on the main campus along with Medicine and Literature in...

     (Université de Bourgogne) http://www.u-bourgogne.fr/
  • École nationale des beaux-arts de Dijon
    École des Beaux-Arts
    École des Beaux-Arts ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement...

  • 1er cycle européen (Europe Centrale et Orientale) de Sciences Po Paris http://www.est-europe.sciences-po.fr
  • ENESAD - Établissement National d’Enseignement Supérieur Agronomique de Dijon http://www.enesad.fr

Mustard


Dijon is famous for its mustard: the term Dijon mustard (moutarde de Dijon) designates a method of making a particularly strong mustard relish. This is not necessarily produced around Dijon as the term is regarded as genericized
Genericized trademark
A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for a general class of product or service, rather than the specific meaning intended by the trademark's holder...

 under European Union law, so that it cannot be registered for protected designation of origin status. Most Dijon mustard (brands such as Amora
Amora (mustard)
Amora is a French company most known for its mustard. It is based in Dijon....

 or Maille
Maille (company)
Maille is a French mustard and pickle company. Founded in 1747, it is famous for its Dijon mustard and cornichon. The company traces its roots to Antoine Claude Maille. In 1720 Maille developed new forms of vinegar to help stop the ongoing plague engulfing the south of France...

) is produced industrially and around 90%
Percent sign
The percent sign is the symbol used to indicate a percentage . It is represented in Unicode by ....

 of all mustard seeds used in local manufacture are imported, mainly from Canada
Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Dijon mustard shops also feature exotic or unusually-flavored mustard (for example fruit-flavoured Dijon), often sold in decorative hand-painted faience
Faience
Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff body, associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a...

(china) pots. In 2008, Unilever closed its mustard factory in Dijon.

Wine


As the capital of the Burgundy region, Dijon reigns over some of the best wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage typically made of fermented grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast consumes...

 country in the world. Many superb vineyards producing vins d'appellation contrôlée, such as Vosne-Romanée
Vosne-Romanée
Vosne-Romanée is a commune in the Côte de Nuits area of the Côte-d'Or department in Burgundy in eastern France. With Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin, it produces the region's best red wines, all made entirely from the Pinot Noir grape....

 and Gevrey-Chambertin
Gevrey-Chambertin
Gevrey-Chambertin is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:The Vignoble de Gevrey-Chambertin is a cru of the Côte de Nuits which lies along the foot of the Cote-d'Or escarpment, to the south of Dijon and with the broad Saône valley plain to...

, are within 20 minutes of the city center. The town's university boasts a renowned oenology institute. The drive from Santenay to Dijon, known as the route des Grands Crus
Route des Grands Crus
The route des Grands Crus is the name of a tourist route situated in Burgundy, France.The approximately 60-kilometre route runs along the foot of the Côte d'Or escarpment, from Dijon in the north to Santenay in the south. Thus it runs through many of the great appellations of Burgundy wine, hence...

, passes through an idyllic countryside of vineyards, rivers, villages, forests, and twelfth-century
12th century
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century is the period from 1101 to 1200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and is sometimes called the Age of the...

 churches. The region's architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons (Burgundian roofs) made of tiles glazed in terracotta, green, yellow and black and arranged in eye-catching geometric patterns.

The city is also well known for its crème de cassis
Crème de Cassis
Crème de cassis is a blood-red, sweet, blackcurrant flavored liqueur, and is an ingredient of kir, an apéritif. The modern version of the drink first appeared in the Burgundy region in 1841, displacing "ratafia de cassis" from prior centuries. It is made from blackcurrants crushed into refined...

, or blackcurrant liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.In some...

, used in the drink known as "Kir" (white wine, especially Bourgogne aligoté
Bourgogne Aligoté AOC
Bourgogne Aligoté is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée for white wine produced from the Aligoté grape variety in the region of Burgundy in France. The wines tend to be light and acidic in style, and are usually unoaked, in contrast to many of Burgundy's more common and more noted Chardonnay-based...

, with blackcurrant liqueur, named after former mayor of Dijon canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 Félix Kir
Félix Kir
Canon Félix Kir was a French Catholic priest, resistance fighter and politician.He was born at Alise-Sainte-Reine on the Côte-d'Or. He entered a small seminary at Plombières-lès-Dijon in 1891 and was ordained 1901. He then worked as a parish priest...

). The same drink made with champagne instead of white wine is known as a Kir Royal.

The American food
Cuisine of the United States
The cuisine of the United States is a style of food preparation derived from the United States of America. The cuisine has a history dating back before the colonial period when the Native Americans had a rich and diverse cooking style for an equally diverse amount of ingredients...

 writer M.F.K. Fisher
M. F. K. Fisher
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a prolific and well-respected writer, writing more than 20 books during her lifetime and also publishing two volumes of journals and correspondence shortly before her death in 1992. Her first book, Serve it Forth, was published in 1937...

, who moved to Dijon shortly after her marriage in 1929, wrote about the region's cuisine in Long Ago in France.

Restaurants


Dijon is home to some of the finest French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The Middle Ages brought Guillaume Tirel, better known as Taillevent...

. Popular attractions include Le Sauvage, Les Gourmandises de Tatine, Le Piano Qui Fume, le Restaurant et Cave a Vins de la Porte Guillaume and Chez Léon.

Notable people


  • John the Fearless (1371 - 1419), Duke of Burgundy
  • Charles, Duke of Burgundy (1433 - 1477)
  • Saint
    Saint
    Saints, individuals of exceptional holiness, are significant in many religions, particularly Christianity.-General characteristics :Though the term is mostly used for Christians considered holy or virtuous, many religions use similar concepts to elevate people worthy of respect, e.g. see Hindu...

     Jane Frances de Chantal
    Jane Frances de Chantal
    Saint Jane Frances de Chantal is a Roman Catholic Saint, who founded a religious order after the death of her husband.-Life:...

     (Jeanne - Françoise Frémiot, baronne de Chantal, 1572 - 1641), founder of the Visitation Order
    Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary
    The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary or the Visitation Order is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. Members of the order are also known as Filles de Sainte-Marie, Visitandines, Salesian Sisters and, more commonly, Visitationists.- History of the order :The Order was founded in 1610 by...

  • Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
    Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
    Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....

     (1627 - 1704), bishop and theologist
  • Jean-Philippe Rameau
    Jean-Philippe Rameau
    Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era...

     (1683 - 1764), composer
  • François Rude
    François Rude
    François Rude was a French sculptor. He was the stepfather of Paul Cabet, a sculptor.Born in Dijon, he worked at his father's trade as a stovemaker till the age of sixteen, but received training in drawing from François Devosges, where he learned that a strong, simple contour was an invaluable...

     (1784 - 1855), sculptor
  • Augustin Cauchy
    Augustin Louis Cauchy
    Augustin-Louis Cauchy was a French mathematician who was an early pioneer of analysis. He started the project of formulating and proving the theorems of infinitesimal calculus in a rigorous manner. He also gave several important theorems in complex analysis and initiated the study of permutation...

     (1789-1867), mathematician
  • Henry Darcy
    Henry Darcy
    Henry Philibert Gaspard Darcy was a French engineer who made several important contributions to hydraulics.-Biography:...

     (1803 - 1858), engineer
  • François Jouffroy
    François Jouffroy
    François Jouffroy was a French sculptor.Jouffroy was born in Dijon, the son of a baker, and attended the local drawing school before being admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1824. In 1832 he won the Prix de Rome...

     (1806 - 1882), sculptor
  • Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
    Gustave Eiffel
    Alexandre Gustave Eiffel , was a French structural engineer and entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...

     (1832 - 1923), engineer and architect
  • Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
    Elizabeth of the Trinity
    Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity was a French nun and religious writer. She was born Élisabeth Catez in the military camp of Avord in the district of Farges-en-Septaine . Her parents were Captain Joseph and Marie Catez. Elizabeth was the first born of her family. She had a terrible temper that...

     (Marie - Élisabeth Catez, 1880 - 1906), Carmelite
    Carmelites
    The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence the order receives its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...

     nun and religious writer
  • Maurice Boitel
    Maurice Boitel
    Maurice Boitel , was a French painter.-Artistic life:Maurice Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" "young picture" of the School of Paris, with painters like Bernard Buffet, Yves Brayer, Louis Vuillermoz, Pierre-Henry, Daniel du Janerand, Gaston Sébire, Paul Collomb, Jean...

     (1919 - 2007), painter
  • Roger Guillemin
    Roger Guillemin
    Roger Charles Louis Guillemin received the National Medal of Science in 1976, and Nobel prize for medicine in 1977 for his work on neurohormones....

     (b. 1924), Nobel laurate in Physiology and Medicine
  • Jean-Pierre Marielle
    Jean-Pierre Marielle
    Jean-Pierre Marielle is a French actor. He is widely regarded in his country as one of the greatest living French actors. He has played in more than a hundred movies in which he brought life to a very large diversity of roles, from the banal citizen , to the serial killer , to the World War II...

     (b. 1932), actor
  • Claude Jade
    Claude Jade
    Claude Jade, byname of Claude Marcelle Jorré was a French actress, best known by starring fictional character Christine Darbon-Doinel in François Truffaut's films Baisers volés , Domicile conjugal and L'amour en fuite .-From stage to François Truffaut:The daughter of a professor, she spent three...

     (1948 - 2006), actress
  • Premena'th Pascal Wilson/Clere (b. 1962), author, artist, teacher, and healer.
  • Vitalic
    Vitalic
    Vitalic is an electronic music artist. He was born in France and is of Italian descent.-History:His first singles were released in 1996 and 1997, but were confined to the underground electronic music scene. However, he became good friends with Michel Amato, also known as The Hacker, whom he met...

     (born as Pascal Arbez in 1976), an electronic music
    Electronic music
    Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

     artist.
  • Julien Pillet
    Julien Pillet
    Julien Pillet is a French sabre fencer. He is a three-time Olympic medalist as he won the gold in the team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics and also at the 2008 Summer Olympics...

     (b. 1977), sabre
    Sabre
    The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually but not always has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...

     fencer
    Fencing
    Fencing is a family of sports and activities that feature armed combat involving cutting, stabbing, or bludgeoning weapons that are directly manipulated by hand, rather than shot, thrown or positioned. Examples include swords, knives, pikes, bayonets, batons, clubs, and similar weapons...

  • Madjid Bougherra
    Madjid Bougherra
    Madjid Bougherra is a French-born Algerian professional association footballer who currently plays for Scottish Premier League side Rangers and the Algeria national football team. He is a defender, who can also play in midfield....

     (b. 1982), Rangers F.C
    Rangers F.C.
    Rangers Football Club are an association football team based in Glasgow, Scotland, who currently play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

     player.

Twin towns - sister cities


Dijon is twinned
Town twinning
Sister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties...

 with:
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth largest city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equally distant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...

 in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...

 Dallas in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Mainz
Mainz
Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the...

 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...

Opole
Opole
Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 129,553 and is the capital of the Opole Voivodeship, and also the seat of Opole County. It is the historical capital of Upper Silesia...

 in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

  Pécs
Pécs
Pécs , , is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economical centre of Baranya county...

 in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...

 Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia is an affluent city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 167,013 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...

Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population of the country, as well as its political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi. The city developed rapidly after World War II,...

 in Macedonia Volgograd
Volgograd
Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River and has a population of 1.011 millon people...

 in Russia
Russia
Russia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence....

 in United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...

 Białystok in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...


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