Every design for Dijon

Dijon began as Divio, a Roman stop on the road between Lyon and Paris, and grew into the seat of the Dukes of Burgundy, who ruled from here from the eleventh century to the end of the fifteenth. In that time the city was one of the great European centres of art, learning and science.

Walking its streets today brings a sense of that wealth close to the surface. The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy now houses the town hall and the fine arts museum; Capetian, Gothic and Renaissance buildings stand side by side; and many of the townhouses in the centre, still lived in, date back centuries. The Hôtel Chartraire de Montigny is one of them. Above it all are the toits bourguignons, roofs of glazed terracotta tiles laid out in bright geometric patterns. The Puits de Moïse is a treasure of the ducal age, and the Église Saint-Philibert is a reminder of the city once called the town of a hundred bell towers. UNESCO now lists the historic centre as part of the Climats of Burgundy.

And of course there is mustard, the crème de cassis and the gingerbread. If Dijon is where you are from, you carry its flavours and its colourful rooftops with you wherever you go.