Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, capital of the Côte-dOr département and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The earliest archaeological finds within the city limits of Dijon date to the Neolithic period, Dijon became a Roman settlement named Divio, located on the road from Lyon to Paris. Population,151,576 within the city limits,250,516 for the greater Dijon area, the city has retained varied architectural styles from many of the main periods of the past millennium, including Capetian and Renaissance. Many still-inhabited town houses in the central district date from the 18th century. Dijon architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons made of tiles glazed in terracotta, green and black, Dijon holds an International and Gastronomic Fair every year in autumn. With over 500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors every year, Dijon is home, every three years, to the international flower show Florissimo. The historical center of the city has been registered since July 4,2015 as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the earliest archaeological finds within the city limits of Dijon date to the Neolithic period.
Dijon became a Roman settlement called Divio, which may mean sacred fountain, saint Benignus, the citys apocryphal patron saint, is said to have introduced Christianity to the area before being martyred. The Duchy of Burgundy was a key in the transformation of medieval times toward early modern Europe, the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy now houses city hall and a museum of art. In 1513, Swiss and Imperial armies invaded Burgundy and besieged Dijon, the siege was extremely violent, but the town succeeded in resisting the invaders. After long negotiations, Louis II de la Trémoille managed to persuade the Swiss, during the siege, the population called on the Virgin Mary for help and saw the towns successful resistance and the subsequent withdrawal of the invaders as a miracle. For those reasons, in the following the siege the inhabitants of Dijon began to venerate Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir. Although a few areas of the town were destroyed, there are no signs of the siege of 1513 visible today. However, Dijons museum of arts has a large tapestry depicting this episode in the towns history.
Dijon is situated at the heart of a plain drained by two small converging rivers, the Suzon, which crosses it mostly underground from north to south, farther south is the côte, or hillside, of vineyards that gives the department its name. Dijon lies 310 km southeast of Paris,190 km northwest of Geneva, the average low of winter is −1 °C, with an average high of 4.2 °C. The average high of summer is 25.3 °C with a low of 14.7 °C. Average normal temperatures are between 2.3 °C and 5.3 °C from November to March, and 17.2 to 19.7 °C from June to August, the climate is oceanic but with a greater temperature range than closer to the Atlantic coastline
Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine
Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine was a French general. As a young officer in the Bourbon Royal army, he served in the Seven Years War, in the American Revolutionary War he joined Rochambeaus Expédition Particulière supporting the American colonists. Following the successful Virginia campaign and the Battle of Yorktown, he returned to France, when the French Revolution began he was elected to the Estates-General and served in the subsequent National Constituent Assembly as a representative from Metz. He supported some of the August Decrees, but supported, royal prerogative, at the dissolution of the Assembly in 1791, he rejoined the army as a lieutenant general and the following year replaced Nicolas Luckner as commander-in-chief of the Army of the Vosges. In 1792, he led campaigns in the middle and upper Rhine regions, taking Speyer and Mainz. Ordered to take command of the Army of the North, Custine sought first to solidify French control of the important crossings of the Rhine by Mainz, when he failed to relieve the besieged fortress of Condé the following year, he was recalled to Paris.
After Condé, Mainz and Speyer had all been lost, he was arrested, Custine was found guilty of treason by a majority vote of the Tribunal on 27 August, and guillotined the following day. His son was executed a few months later, and his daughter-in-law suffered for several months in prison before she was released in the summer of 1794. She managed to some of the family property and emigrated to Germany. Custine began his career at the age of eight, in 1748, at the end of the War of Austrian Succession in Germany under Marshal Saxe, who continued his tutelage during peace time. During the Seven Years War, Custine served in the French army in the German states, in 1758, while fighting the Prussians, Custine learned to admire their modern military organization, which influenced his own military style. By the end of the Seven Years War, Custine was maestre de camp and his regiment, the Regiment de Saintonge, embarked for the Thirteen Colonies in April 1780 from Brest. There, he served with distinction against the British as a colonel in the force of Count Rochambeau in the War of American Independence.
Rouchambeaus reports praised his honesty, zeal and talents, following the surrender of the British, his regiment wintered in Williamsburg and departed for the Antilles in December 1782, with the rest of the expeditionary force. On his return to France, Custine was named maréchal de camp and he resumed responsibilities as the proprietor of the dragoon regiment de Rouergue. In July 1789, as the French Revolution gained momentum, he remained in the National Constituent Assembly, there, he supported the creation of a constitution espousing the principles of representative government and often voted with such liberal nobility as the Marquis de Lafayette. With the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly in October 1791, Custine was appointed lieutenant general to the Army of the Vosges, despite his strict discipline, he was popular with the soldiers, amongst whom he was known as général moustache. The following year he was appointed commander-in-chief of the army, replacing Nicolas Luckner, in the campaign, he took Speyer, Mainz
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Archaeological studies have confirmed the presence of a Roman castrum, a stronghold in Novempopulania at the end of the 4th century before the city was populated by the Vascones. In 1023 Bayonne was the capital of Labourd and, in the 12th century, extended to, at that time the first bridge was built over the Adour. The city came under the domination of the English in 1152 through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, it became militarily and, above all and it was separated from the Viscount of Labourd in 1177 by Richard the Lion Heart. In 1451 the city was taken by the Crown of France after the Hundred Years War, the loss of trade with the English and the silting up of the river as well as the movement of the city towards the north weakened it. The district of Saint-Esprit developed anyway thanks to the arrival of a Jewish population fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, from this community Bayonne gained its reputation for chocolate.
The course of the Adour was changed in 1578 under the direction of Louis de Foix, in the 17th century the city was fortified by Vauban. In 1951 the Lacq gas field was discovered whose extracted sulphur, Bayonne was, in 2014, a commune with over 45,000 inhabitants, the heart of the urban area of Bayonne and of the Agglomeration Côte Basque-Adour which includes Anglet and Biarritz. It is an important part of the Basque Bayonne-San Sebastián Eurocity, modern industry—metallurgy and chemicals—are established to take advantage of procurement opportunities and sea shipments through the harbour. It is now mostly business services which today represent the largest source of employment, Bayonne is a cultural capital, a city with strong Basque and Gascon influences and a rich historical past. Its heritage lies in its architecture, the diversity of collections in museums, its gastronomic specialties, the inhabitants of the commune are known as Bayonnais or Bayonnaises. Bayonne is located in the south-west of France on the border between Basque Country and Gascony.
It developed at the confluence of the Adour and its tributary on the left bank, the commune was part of the Basque province of Labourd. Bayonne occupies a territory characterized by a relief to the west and to the north towards the Landes forest, tending to slightly raise towards the south. The city has developed at the confluence of the Adour and Nive 6 kilometres from the ocean, the meeting point of the two rivers coincides with a narrowing of the Adour valley. Downstream from this point the river has shaped a large bed in the dunes creating a significant bottleneck at the confluence. The occupation of the hill that dominates this narrowing of the valley developed through a gradual spread across the lowlands by building embankments, the drainage network of the western Pre-Pyrenees evolved mostly from the Quaternary from south-east to northwest oriented east-west. The Adour was captured by the gaves and this system, together with the Nive, led to the emergence of a new alignment of the lower Adour and this capture has been dated to the early Quaternary
David
David was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, reigning in c. He is described as a man after Gods own heart in 1 Samuel 13,14 and Acts 13,22. The Hebrew prophets regarded him as the ancestor of the future messiah, the New Testament says he was an ancestor of Jesus. God is angered when Saul, Israels king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice and disobeys a divine instruction to not only all of the Amalekites. Consequently, he sends the prophet Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. Sauls courtiers recommend that he send for David, a man skillful on the lyre, wise in speech, and brave in battle. So David enters Sauls service as one of the royal armour-bearers, and plays the lyre to soothe the king, war comes between Israel and the Philistines, and the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Sauls army, refusing the kings offer of the royal armour, he kills Goliath with his sling.
Saul inquires the name of the heros father. Saul sets David over his army, all Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him. Saul plots his death, but Sauls son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his fathers schemes and David flees. He becomes a vassal of the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but Achishs nobles question his loyalty and Saul are killed, and David is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Sauls son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, with the death of Sauls son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David is anointed king over all Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, and makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, Nathan prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David, Your throne shall be established forever. David wins more victories over the Philistines, while the Moabites, Amalekites, during a battle to conquer the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David seduces Bathsheba and causes the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite.
In response, Nathan prophesies the punishment that shall fall upon him, in fulfillment of these words Davids son Absalom rebels. The rebellion ends at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim, Absaloms forces are routed, and Absalom is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree, and killed by Joab, contrary to Davids order. Joab was the commander of Davids army, David laments the death of his favourite son, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. Versailles is therefore not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. First built by Louis XIII in 1623, as a lodge of brick and stone. The first phase of the expansion was designed and supervised by the architect Louis Le Vau and it culminated in the addition of three new wings of stone, which surrounded Louis XIIIs original building on the north and west. After Le Vaus death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant, charles Le Brun designed and supervised the elaborate interior decoration, and André Le Nôtre landscaped the extensive Gardens of Versailles. Le Brun and Le Nôtre collaborated on the fountains, and Le Brun supervised the design. During the second phase of expansion, two enormous wings north and south of the wings flanking the Cour Royale were added by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
He replaced Le Vaus large terrace, facing the garden on the west, with became the most famous room of the palace. The Royal Chapel of Versailles, located at the end of the north wing, was begun by Mansart in 1688. One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV, owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be a residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the kings house. Once Louis XIV embarked on his campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record. To counter the costs of Versailles during the years of Louis XIVs personal reign. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France, even the mirrors used in the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors were made in France. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, to meet the demands for decorating and furnishing Versailles, Colbert nationalised the tapestry factory owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufacture royale des Gobelins.
In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne, the Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver used in the salon de Mercure serve as an example. 5 In anticipation, For the silver balustrade for the bedroom,90,000 livres II
Great St Bernard Hospice
The Great St Bernard Hospice is a hospice or hostel for travellers in Switzerland, at 2469m altitude at the Great St Bernard Pass in the Pennine Alps. The border with Italy is only a few hundred metres to the south, the first hospice or monastery was the 9th century one at Bourg-Saint-Pierre mentioned for the first time around 812-820. This was destroyed by Saracen incursions in the century, probably in 940. Around 1050, Saint Bernard of Menthon, archdeacon of Aosta, regularly saw travellers arriving terrorised and distressed, with this in mind, he founded the hospice at the pass which bore his name. The churchs first textual mention is in a document of 1125, the hospice was placed under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Sion and count of Valais, thus explaining why the whole pass is now in Swiss territory. The St. Bernard dog breed was created at the hospice from cross-breeding dogs, the first definite mention of the breed is in 1709. The breed was originally raised to provide guard dogs for the hospice, the St.
Bernards were specially bred and trained for the role of mountain rescue because they were sufficiently strong to cross deep snow drifts and had the capacity to track lost travelers by scent. The first evidence that the dogs were in use at the monastery is in two paintings dating to 1690 by Salvatore Rosa, the attachment to their collar of small casks containing brandy appears to be a 19th-century myth. The last recorded rescue by one of the dogs was in 1955, although as late as 2004 eighteen of the animals were kept at the Hospice for reasons of sentiment. In 2004, the breeding of the dogs was undertaken by the Barry foundation at Martigny, and they remain a tourist attraction, and a number of the animals are temporarily relocated from Martigny to the Hospice during the summer months. In June 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered a tomb to be built at the Hospice for Louis Desaix. His body rested at Milan from 1800 to 1805, when it was buried at the hospice in the presence of Berthier, a commemorative monument set up there in a chapel was moved in 1829, so that Desaix now lies anonymous under an altar dedicated to Saint Faustina.
The dogs and some outlying refuge shelters maintained by the monks are mentioned, dickens visited the place and saw the mortuary in 1846, and described it in a letter to his friend John Forster dated 6 September 1846. Congregation of Canons Regular at Grand-Saint-Bernard Jean-Luc Rouiller, Le Valais par les dates, une chronologie des origines à nos jours, dans Annales valaisannes,1999, p.105,106,109. Le Grand-Saint-Bernard, dans Les chanoines réguliers de Saint-Augustin en Valais, Bâle,1997 Lucien Quaglia, La maison du Grand-Saint-Bernard des origines aux temps actuels, the Great St. Bernard Pass and its Hospice, in Isis, vol. 27,1937, pp. 306–320, Available on JStor
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française. The Institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and it awards prizes and subsidies, which amounted to a total of €5,028,190.55 for 2002. Most of these prizes are awarded by the Institute on the recommendation of the académies, the Institut de France was established on 25 October 1795, by the French government. Académie française – initiated 1635, suppressed 1793, restored 1803 as a division of the institute, Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres – initiated 1663. Académie des sciences – initiated 1666, the Royal Society of Canada, initiated 1882, was modeled after the Institut de France and the Royal Society of London
Palace of Fontainebleau
The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau is located 55 kilometres southeast of the centre of Paris, and is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and château was the residence of French monarchs from Louis VII through Napoleon III, Napoleon I abdicated his throne there before being exiled to Elba. Today, it is a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is located in the commune of Fontainebleau. The earliest record of a castle at Fontainebleau dates to 1137. It became a residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game. It took its name one of the springs, the fountain de Bliaud, located now in the English garden. He commissioned the architect Gilles le Breton to build a palace in the new Renaissance style and it included monumental Porte Dorée, as its southern entrance. As well as a monumental Renaissance stairway, the portique de Serlio, beginning in about 1528, Francis constructed the Gallery Francis I, which allowed him to pass directly from his apartments to the chapel of the Trinitaires.
He brought the architect Sebastiano Serlio from Italy, and the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino, another Italian painter, Francesco Primaticcio from Bologna, joined in the decoration of the palace. Together their style of decoration became known as the first School of Fontainebleau and this was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France, in about 1540, Francis began another major addition to the chateau. Using land on the east side of the chateau purchased from the order of the Trinitaires, he began to build a new square of buildings around a large courtyard. It was enclosed on the north by the wing of the Ministers, on the east by the wing of Ferrare, the chateau was surrounded by a new park in the style of the Italian Renaissance garden, with pavilions and the first grotto in France. Primaticcio created more monumental murals for the gallery of Ulysses, following the death of Francis I, King Henry II decided to continue and expand the chateau.
The King and his wife chose the architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant to do the work and they extended the east wing of the lower court, and decorated it with the first famous horseshoe-shaped staircase. In the oval court, they transformed the loggia planned by Francois into a Salle des Fétes or grand ballroom with a coffered ceiling. Facing the courtyard of the fountain and the pond, they designed a new building. At Henris orders, the Nymphe de Fontainebleau was installed at the entrance of Château dAnet
Grand Trianon
The Grand Trianon is a château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles. The Grand Trianon is set within its own park, which includes the Petit Trianon, in 1668, Louis XIV purchased Trianon, a hamlet on the outskirts of Versailles, and commissioned the architect Louis Le Vau to design a porcelain pavilion to be built there. The façade was made of white and blue Delft-style porcelain tiles from the French manufactures of Rouen, Nevers, construction began in 1670 and was finished in 1672. By 1687, the ceramic tiles had deteriorated to such a point that Louis XIV ordered the demolition of the pavilion. Commission of the work was entrusted to the architect Jules Hardouin Mansart, hardouin-Mansarts new structure was twice the size of the porcelain pavilion and the material used was red marble of Languedoc. Begun in June 1687, the new construction was finished in January 1688 and inaugurated by Louis XIV and his secret wife, the Grand Trianon would often play host to the King and his wife.
The first set of Grands apartments lasted from 1688 to 1691, the next was from 1691 till 1701, 1701 till his death at Versailles in 1715. From 1703 to 1711, the building was the residence of le Grand Dauphin, the domain was a favourite of the Duchess of Burgundy, the wife of his grandson Louis de France, the parents of Louis XV. In the years of Louis XIVs reign, the Trianon was the residence of the Kings sister-in-law Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Dowager Duchess of Orléans and her son, Philippe dOrléans, future son-in-law of Louis XIV and Regent of France, lived there with his mother. The Kings youngest grandson Charles de France and his wife Marie Louise Élisabeth dOrléans resided there. In 1717, Peter the Great of Russia, who was studying the palace and gardens of Versailles, resided at the Grand Trianon, Louis XV did not bring any changes to the Grand Trianon. In 1740 and 1743, his father-in-law, Stanislas Leszczynski, former king of Poland stayed there during his visits to Versailles.
Later, it was during a stay at Trianon that Louis XV fell ill before being transported to the Palace of Versailles, no more than his predecessor had, Louis XVI brought no structural modifications to the Grand Trianon. During the French Revolution of 1789, the Grand Trianon was left to neglect, at the time of the First French Empire, Napoleon made it one of his residences, and furnished it in the Empire Style. Napoleon lived at Trianon with his second wife Marie Louise of Austria, to the Hungarians, the word Trianon remains to this day the symbol of one of their worst national disasters. 1963 saw Charles de Gaulle order a renovation of the building, a popular site for tourists visiting Versailles, it is one of the French Republic presidential residences used to host foreign officials
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber and its central feature is a single, prominent pillar or column, often made of stone. Sarcophagus – a stone container for a body or coffin, often decorated and perhaps part of a monument, sepulchre – a cavernous rock-cut space for interment, generally in the Jewish or Christian faiths. Tumuli are known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgräber or kurgans, a cairn, might be originally a tumulus. A long barrow is a tumulus, usually for numbers of burials. As indicated, tombs are located in or under religious buildings, such as churches. However, they may be found in catacombs, on land or, in the case of early or pre-historic tombs. The tomb of Emperor Nintoku is the largest in the world by area, the Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt is the largest by volume
