Bourgogne

The region of Bourgogne 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:

- Burgundy: Cote-d’Or, Saone-et-Loire, and southern half of Yonne. This corresponds to the old duchy of Burgundy (later called the “province of Burgundy”). However, the old county of Burgundy (later called “province of Franch-Comte”) is not included inside the Bourgongne region, but it makes up the Franche-Comte region. Also, a small part of the duch of Burgundy is now inside the Champagne-Ardenne region
- Nivernais: Nievre department
- The northern half of Yonne is a territory that was not part of Burgundy (at least not since the 11th century), and was a frontier between Champagne, Ile-de-France, and Orleanais, depending from each of these provinces at different times in history.

Burgundy is a historic region of France, inhabited in turn by Pre-Indo-European people, Celts (Gauls), Romans and various Germanic peoples, most importantly the Burgundians and the Franks. The Burgundians gave their name to the region.

Burgundy makes up most of the modern-day administrative region of Bourgogne.

During the middle ages, Burgundy was the seat of some of the most important Western churches and monasteries, among them Cluny, Citeaux and Vezelay.

During the Hundred Years’ War, King Jean II of France gave the duchy to his younger son, rather than leaving it to his successor on the throne. The duchy soon became a major rival to the French throne, because the Dukes of Burgundy succeeded in assembling an empirt stretching from Switzerland to the North Sea, mostly by marriage. The Burgundian Empire consisted of a number of fiefdoms on both sides of the (then largely symbolic) border between the French kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire. Its economic heartland was in the Low Countries, particularly Flanders and Brabant. The court in Dijon outshone the French court by far, both economically and culturally. In Belgium and The Netherlands, a ‘Burgundian lifestyle’ still means ‘enjoyment of life, good food, and extravagant spectacle’.

Burgundy is probably famous the world over for its wines of the same name. the best-known wines come from the Cote d’Or, although also viticulturally part of Burgundy are Beaujolais, Chablis, Cote Chalonnaise and Macon.

The two most important wine regions in France are Bordeaux (on the South West coast, rather arid) and Burgundy (in the East towards Switzerland). Bordeaux wines are strict, weighty, academic, stentorian; Burgundy wines are varied, complex, human and sophisticatedly homely. Although “Burgundy” means red, the Burgundy region produces both white wines and red wines.

The Canal of Burgundy joins the Rivers Yonne and Saone, allowing barges to navigate from the north to south of France. Construction began in 1765 and was completed in 1832. at the summit there is a tunnel 3,333 kilometers long in a straight line. The canal is 242 kilometers long, with a total 209 locks and crosses two counties of Burgundy, the Yonne and Cote d’Or. The canal is now mostly used for riverboat tourism; Dijon, the most important city alond the canal, has a harbour for leisure boats.

Famous Burgundian dishes include coq au vin and beef bourguignon.

The constructor of the Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon and Dijon mustard was first made with juice from grapes instead of vinegar there.

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