In fact, Burgundy is scattered with reminders
of the Roman occupation and none more so than Autun, which was
the second town of Gaul and founded 2000 years ago by the
Emperor Augustus.
The sites are very impressive especially the
theatre. In Alesia those final battles took place but, also in
this area is Bibracte. Bibracte is astonishing. It was a city
whose 10,000 population
left for the more agreeable Autun.
The site was not discovered until the 19th
century and it was
only very recently excavated on a large scale. One wonders how
such a large city was ‘lost’! Today a visit is a real insight
into life during the pre Roman times.
Burgundy
wasn’t Burgundy, I discovered, in Roman times. In
fact, it was named after a Germanic tribe, maybe originary
from the island of Bornholm who had settled in the Geneva area
and then spread their lands west into Burgundy and south as
far as Marseille.
The region is named after this tribe who
brought a degree of stability to this part of France about
A.D. 500 and allowed Christianity to flourish. It would,
however, take a few more centuries of turbulence before the
religious revival would seriously take over Europe, France
and,
certainly, Burgundy.
Vase de Vix...
The museum in Châtillon-sur-Seine in northern
Burgundy houses the massive 5ft. high bronze urn, the ‘Vase de
Vix’. It was buried more than 2,500 years ago with the ‘Lady
of Vix’ and her elegant jewellery.
The urn is
the biggest and finest to be found in the entire Mediterranean
area.
Solutré...a
pilgrimage
In the south of the region, close to Mâcon,
the landscape is dominated by the huge monolithic rock of
Solutré.
Surrounded today by vineyards, the rock was
not only a landmark but a symbol of Celtic pilgrimages. In
later years, Président Mitterrand would lead a group on the
annual walk to the summit of the rock. You can also follow the
trail. The view from the top is splendid.
credits
: Burgundy
Tourist Board
