"Dijon Cathedral"

Originating as the church of the Abbey of St. Benignus, it became the seat of the Diocese of Dijon during the French Revolution, replacing the previous cathedral.

The first church here was a basilica built over the supposed sarcophagus of Saint Benignus, which was placed in a crypt constructed for it by Saint Gregory of Langres in 511; the basilica over the crypt was completed in 535. From the early 9th century St. Bénigne was the personal monastery of the bishops of Langres. In 869 Isaac, Bishop of Langres, re-founded it as a Benedictine abbey, and restored the basilica at the same time. By 1002, the ruin of the previous building had been razed and construction began on a new Romanesque structure.

In 1137 a fire destroyed most of the town of Dijon and damaged the monastery and its church. Construction of a new Gothic abbey church in 1280. The new church is noted for its plainness and severity. The abbey was secularised during the French Revolution, but the church was made, firstly, a parish church, and then in 1792 the cathedral of the Diocese of Dijon.