DIJON, WzlioN' (Lat. ('ast•ual Dirioncnsc). A town and seat of a bishopric, capital of the De partment of Cote d'Or. France, formerly capital of the old Duchy of Burgundy 1.11ap; France, L 41. Dijon occupies a delightful situation in a fertile plain on the right hank of the and at the base of the vine-•ad hills which produce the famous Burgundy wines, 1211 miles southeast of Paris by rail. The environs are exceedingly beautiful. Dijon is surrounded by old Walls, originally having five gates; the ramparts, plant ed with trees, have been converted into fine boule vard: and promenades. The is for the most part well and regularly built of freestone, and the streets arc spacious and dean. Among the public buildings, which are numerous and impos ing, the chief are the cathedral, a massive Gothic structure, dating from the thirteenth century, with a tall wooden spire, above 300 feet high; the Church of Notre Dame, a noble specimen of Gothic arehitecture; the Church of Saint .1liebel, with a splendid Renaissance front; the theatre, a handsome building with a fine Corinthian por tico; and the palace of the dukes of Burgundy, HOW used as the town hall. This last-mentioned edifice is exceedingly interesting. and, modernized as it is on the exterior, its internal decorations still survive in their pristine beauty. The mu
seum is rich in monuments of the ,Nliddle Ages. and contains a library of p,090 volumes and 1100 manuscripts. Dijon is the seat of a university with three faculties—law, science, and letters— and possesses, in addition, a royal college, a theo logical seminary, a botanic garden, and an acad emy of art. The manufactures consist of woolen cloth, blankets, hosiery, leather, vinegar, chemical products, etc.; and there are salt refineries, distil leries, and breweries, but the town is mainly de pendent on its trade in the wines of Burgundy. Population, in 1901, 70,4S. Dijon dates from Roman times. It came into the possession of the Burgundians in the fifth century, and from them passed to the Franks. In the ninth century it was ruled by counts of its own, under the suzerainty of the bishops of Langres. In the eleventh century it was united to the Duchy of Burgundy, of which it became the capital, and the usual residence of the dukes, who rebuilt and greatly enlarged and improved it. On the death of Charles the Bold, 1477, it annexed to the Crown of France by Louis Xl. Dijon is the birthplace of Bossuet, the elder Craillon, and Jouffroy, the sculptor.