DIJON. 



741 



Dijon, cumference, without including the suburbs, 1350 toises. 

 T""^ The fine walls with which Dijon is surrounded, have 

 half- moons, about 12 bastions, ditches, and a chateau 

 in the form of a citadel. It is of a square shape, with 

 a large round tower at each angle, and is flanked with 

 tvrofers a cheval, one towards the town, and the other 

 towards the country. 

 reetsand The streets of Dijon are straight, spacious, and well 

 uares. paved, and the houses are in general handsome and 

 commodious. The Place Royale, now the Place Grande, 

 was formerly decorated with an excellent equestrian sta- 

 tue, in bronze, of Louis XIV. by Le Hongrie, which 

 weighed 52,000 pounds, and cost 103,000 livres, in- 

 dependent of the pedestal, which contained 1295 square 

 feet of marble. The Place is constructed in the form 

 of a horse-shoe, has a circular ballustrade, in the front 

 of which is the magnificent provincial palace, called 

 Le Logis du Hois, adorned with superb porticoes, and 

 a very high tower, which has a fine effect. On the left 

 hand is the Palais des Etats, and the street of Conde, 

 (afterwards called the street of Equality), consisting of 

 the most splendid houses, uniformly built ; and on the 

 right is the high and bold spire of St Chapelle, and 

 the belfry of the cathedral, so as to render the view of 

 the town from this place remarkably grand. The other 

 squares are those of St Stephen, St John, St Michael, 

 and that of the Cordeliers. The public buildings of 

 Dijon are both numerous and elegant, 

 ational The Palais du Logis du Roi, now the Palais Na- 



ilace. Honed, was formerly inhabited by the governors of the 

 province, and has often been used by several of the 

 French monarchs. It is surmounted by a large tower, 

 which was begun in 1367, and finished by Philip-le- 

 Bon. It is very high, and of an irregular shape, but 

 has nevertheless a fine effect, and was employed as the 

 observatory of the academy. In this palace, the 6th 

 cohort of the Legion of Honour now hold their sittings. 

 The inside of the square tower was formerly the kitchen 

 of the Prince of Conde ; the fire places for roasting are 

 placed all around, with the stove in the middle to let 

 out the smoke. It is now used, says M. Millin, for 

 the preparation of soup a la Rumford. A few cham- 

 bers of the ancient palace are all that remains, 

 [useum. In one of the wings of this building is the museum 



of Dijon, which owes its establishment to the zeal of 

 M. Desvoges, who first proposed it to the states of Bur- 

 gundy. The room for study is large, and well suited 

 to the purpose of drawing from engravings, busts, and 

 models. In 1805, there were 150 students. Former- 

 ly they received prizes, and those who had this honour 

 were sent to Rome. There are several rooms full of 

 pictures, marble statues, and other curiosities. The 

 room which contains engravings is very light, and is 

 furnished with desks facing the windows : The num- 

 ber of engravings is 40,000. The rooms are open to the 

 public every Sunday from twelve till two o'clock in 

 winter, and from two till four in summer, 

 irliament The palace where the parliament of Dijon formerly 

 >use. assembled, is also worthy of attention. Its porch is 



adorned with columns and statues, particularly one of 

 Henry II. in whose reign the great hall and the portal 

 were begun. They were finished by Charles IV. The 

 Hall of Public Audience was erected by Louis XII. 

 The ceihng is extremely rich with gilding, sculpture, 

 and painting. The painted glass which forms the win- 

 dows, was a present from Francis I. 

 Alczt. ^ ne ^kg 6 °f Dijon has always been reckoned one 



of the best regulated in France. Here are professorships 

 of theology, philosophy, mathematics, the German lan- 



4. 



Acadeinv. 



guage, history, rhetoric, eloquence, poetry, and hu- 'DijjMi. 

 mamty. Every tliree years, prices, which were found- *-^r— 

 ed in 1737 by the first president, Jean de Berbisey, 

 to the amount of 1000 livres, are regularly distributed. 

 It has also a library and a physical cabinet. 



The academy of Dijon has been celebrated for having 

 crowned an eloquent discourse of Rousseau's. It was 

 founded in 1725, and has for its objects, morals, phy- 

 sics, medicine, belles lettres, and the arts. It holds 

 its sittings in a magnificent saloon, adorned with the 

 portraits of eminent men. An annual sum of 1800 

 livres was given by the states of the province to the 

 academy, for the purpose of founding a public and gra- 

 tuitous lecture on chemistry. Lectures are also given 

 on materia medica, botany, philosophy, and anatomy. 

 Attached to it is the botanic garden, situated a little to 

 the east of the town. It was given to the academy 

 by M. Legouz de Gerlan, who died in 1774. When 

 the church of St Magdalen was demolished at the re- 

 volution, his remains were deposited in a black sarco- 

 phagus, and placed upon a base under the trees, at the 

 extremity of the garden. Besides the botanic gardeD, 

 this academy has a collection of natural history, a che- 

 mical laboratory, a medaillery, and an observatory. 



The- church of the abbey of St Benigne was conse- church of 

 crated in 535 ; but the present church was finished in St Benign?. 

 1288. It is reckoned one of the largest and most ele- 

 gant in the kingdom, and deserves particular notice. 

 The body of the church is 213 feet long over the walls, 

 and 87 wide, 42 of which are occupied with the great 

 nave, and it is 92 feet high under the roof. The spire, 

 which is particularly admired, has only a small diame- 

 ter, but rises to the height of 375 feet. The height of 

 the cross is 36 feet, and the spire is furnished with a con- 

 ductor. The front is ornamented with two similar 

 towers, about 240 feet high, in one of which are two bells, 

 one of 1 1 and the other of 1 5 thousand pounds weight. 

 The organ is esteemed one of the finest in the king- 

 dom. Behind the choir of this church are the ruins of 

 a Pagan temple. It is an ancient rotunda, with three 

 arches, one above the other, having a circular opening 

 in the middle, and sustained by 104 columns, having, 

 their shafts of one stone. Nearly a third of this edi- 

 fice is under ground. 



The collegiate church of S te Chapelle, or the holy cha- church of 

 pel, was founded by the dukes of Burgundy, in 1172. the holy 

 The body, which is of a moderate size, and of fine Gothic chapel, 

 architecture, is about 167 feetlong, 63| feet wide without 

 comprehending the collateral chapels, and 74 feet high 

 under the roof. It is surmounted with a superb spire, 

 about 350 feet high, reckoning from the pavement of 

 the church. It contains a bell of alloyed silver, and the 

 tower on the front has a fine chime of bells. The sta- 

 tues and paintings, and the miraculous host, which has 

 been preserved in this church for several centuries, are 

 the other objects in it which deserve notice. 



The church of St Michael is particularly remarkable church of 

 for the richness and magnificence of its front, the prin- St Michae'. 

 cipal features of which are two similar towers, formed of 

 different orders of architecture, one above the other, 

 and surmounted by two octagonal cupolas, terminated 

 by balls of gilt brass. This building, is not of the 

 Gothic style, like the other contemporaneous edifices, 

 but is a striking example of good taste, at a time when 

 the Greek architecture was despised. This church is 

 88 feet long over the walls, 89 wide, independent of the 

 side chapels, and 64 high under the roof. 



The church of St Stephen, now the cathedral church, church of 

 was f<7rmerly an abbey, of the order of St Augustine. St Sreph«i. 



