Dijon Archaeological Museum (Musée archéologique de Dijon)

What you will see

The visit starts at the top, with the prehistory and Gallo-Roman history of Côte-d'Or. On the lowest floor, in the 11th-century rooms, are the wooden, metal and stone offerings left at the healing sanctuary of the Sources of the Seine, the bronze goddess Sequana and carved stelae such as the wine merchant. The Gothic dormitory, closed for works at the time of writing, displays medieval sculpture from Saint-Bénigne, Notre-Dame, the ducal Sainte-Chapelle and Champmol.

History

The building's oldest level dates from the 11th century, when it formed the east wing of the abbey cloister, with the chapter house and the monks' workroom. Above it, the monks' dormitory received Gothic rib vaults in the 13th century. In the 17th century the Maurist monks raised the cloister, added a floor of cells and built the broad staircase still in use today.

The museum presents collections first gathered by the Commission des Antiquités de la Côte-d'Or. It moved here in 1934, became a municipal museum in 1955 and gradually spread through the whole building. Its regional displays include the Bronze Age hoard of Blanot, finds from the Gallo-Roman sites of Mâlain and Selongey, and jewellery from Merovingian graves. Many of its medieval carvings were saved when religious buildings were dismantled during the Revolution.