The story of this place
In the 14th and 15th centuries the Valois Dukes of Burgundy—Philip the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good and Charles the Bold—built from Dijon one of the richest and most powerful states in Europe, their court the most lavish in Christendom, ruling lands from Burgundy to Flanders. Their palace still anchors the old city, and its ducal kitchens and the tombs of the dukes, masterpieces of medieval sculpture with weeping 'pleurant' figures, survive in the Musée des Beaux-Arts within. The Burgundian dream collapsed when Charles the Bold was killed at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, and Louis XI seized the duchy for France. Dijon's mustard and its dukes' legacy still flavour the city.