Once the capital of a duchy no less powerful than medieval France,Beaune is very picturesque and somewhat reminiscent of Bruges. Probably the tastes of the Duke of Burgundy, who owned a large part of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, played an important role in its construction.
The old part is surrounded by the most powerful wall of the XV century, inside which there are palaces, including the remains of the palace of the dukes, ancient streets, churches, bell towers, market…. The most striking impression of Beaune will be the House of Refuge, built in the XV century, but hardly surpassing the splendor of Versailles. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of Philip the Good. This beautifully preserved, spectacular building with its multi-colored tile roof is one of the few surviving examples of 15th century “civil” architecture. In 1443-1451 Rogier van Der Weyden painted a polyptych of the Last Judgment, one of his finest works, for the Great Hall of the asylum. The orphanage is still the main attraction of the town today.
Beaune is the capital of Burgundy wines. They are stored in world-famous cellars. But, of course, not only in the cellars, and here you can eat, taste and drink wines everywhere… And you will never believe how cheap a glass of wonderful Burgundy wine is in a café in the picturesque medieval-Burgundy square of Beaune!
Famous Burgundy wines. The national road runs from south-southwest to north-northeast for about 100 kilometers, with famous wineries to the left and right of the road. The higher up the slopes from the road the higher the variety of wine produced. The southern part of the wine road is primarily white wines, the northern part – red wines. Here you can visit cellars of XIII-XV centuries in the castle of Meursault, and not only, wine tasting in farms and small mansions – Monrachet, Pomar, Chambertan, Eshezo, Cortone, Fixan… Two major cities, two capitals of Burgundy mark the borders of this road – Dijon and Beaune. There is a lot to see along this road! There are ancient castles, excellent restaurants and nice hotels, abbeys… The picturesqueness of vineyards, the taste of wines, the beauty of interiors, ancient towns and landscapes make this road unique, unequaled by the totality of these factors to any other wine-producing region of France.
Burgundy ‘s wine regions – Basically, there are 6 wine regions in Burgundy: Chablis (in the north of Burgundy, near Auxerre), the road of famous wines (Beaune-Dijon), which includes the wines of Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune, the wines of Mâcon and the wines of Chalon (both of the latter areas are a continuation of the wine road to the south) and the completion of the southern direction of Burgundy wines are the wines of Beaujolais. To see all six districts you need at least a week. We recommend starting with the main one, the wine road between Beaune and Dijon.
