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Key figures

Origin and history

The archaeological museum of Dijon, founded in 1832, is dedicated to Burgundy archaeology, covering Prehistory, Protohistory, Roman Gaul and the Middle Ages. It is labeled Museum of France and houses collections on paleo-Christian art, sacred art and Christian architecture. Since 1934, it has occupied the main wing of Saint-Bénigne Abbey (VIth century), in the former Benedictine dormitory.

The origins of the museum date back to the late eighteenth century, carried by learned societies such as the Dijon Academy and the Commission of Antiquities of the Gold Coast (CACO, 1832). These scholars conducted excavations (Alésia, Vertault, Les Bolards) and kept objects from destroyed monuments, such as the Castrum de Dijon or the Abbey of Saint-Bénigne. Originally installed at the Rolin Hotel (departmental archives), the museum moved to the State Palace under the Second Empire, before settling permanently in the Abbey in 1934.

The collections, enriched by recent discoveries, are organized on three levels: the Romanesque halls (level 0) exhibit Gallo-Roman remains (ex-Sequana voto, steles of the Castrum Dijonnais); The former dormitory (level 1) presents medieval sculptures, including Christ crowned with thorns by Claus Sluter (1399); 17th century rooms (level 2) house prehistoric and merovingian objects, such as Blanot's treasure or burgundy fibules. The museum thus illustrates the cultural evolution of Burgundy, from Prehistory to the Middle Ages.

Christ crowned with thorns, a fragment of a limestone crucifix erected in 1399 at the cartreuse of Champmol, is one of the masterpieces. Withdrawn before the Revolution, it was rediscovered in the 19th century in a Dijon wall. This bust, attributed to Claus Sluter, bears witness to the Burgundian sacred art and the links between the museum and the local heritage, including abbeys and major archaeological sites such as Alesia or the sources of the Seine.

The museum, which was built in 1955, was developed through excavations and acquisitions, becoming a reference point for regional archaeology. Its collections come from emblematic sites (Mâlain, Moutiers-Saint-Jean, Curtil-Saint-Seine) and cover key periods, such as the Bronze Age (Treasure of Blanot) or the Merovingian era (arms of frank warriors). Anchoring in Saint-Bénigne Abbey, a historic monument in its own right, reinforces its role as a conservatory of Burgundy memory.

Today, the archaeological museum of Dijon highlights material testimonies of successive cultures in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. Its spaces, from Gothic dormitory to 17th century rooms, offer a unique chronological journey, while stressing the importance of learned societies in preserving heritage since the 19th century.

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