Population: 1.6 million

Principal city: Dijon.

Bourgogne offers a mosaic of varied country; a million hectares of forest covers more than a third of the territory, principally in the Morvan massif. The region's numerous watercourses are popular with boating fans, and include the canal du Nivernais in the west, which passes through the tranquil countryside from Decize to Auxerre. The River Seine has its source on the plateau de Langres, north of Dijon, where the statue of the goddess of the river, Sequana, can be visited.

The dignified Burgundian capital of Dijon is a mixture of old and new: its modern TGV network and multi-national companies sit alongside the old city with its abbeys, churches and decorated roofs. Of particular interest is the Palais des Ducs and the Jacquemart clock.

Inevitably, there is also a Dijon mustard museum: the town's association with mustard can be traced back to the 14th century and many local dishes are prepared with the fiery stuff. Dijon carries on the tradition of fine food and wine, but names like Nuits-St-Georges, Beaune and Mâcon slip more easily off the tongue and down the throat. Every 22 January in the Côte d'Or département the festival of Saint-Vincent Tournante is celebrated. A different village is chosen each year to host the celebrations in honour of the patron saint of wine — hence the name Tournante.

The Beaujolais region, which Burgundy shares with Rhône-Alpes, is another famous centre of wine production. The 'Man with the Golden Nose', Georges Duboeuf, started his wine-merchanting business in 1964 and is now hailed as the 'King of Beaujolais'. He has a flair for selecting excellent wines, from Beaujolais Nouveau to the Grands Crus. In celebration of the industry, he created Le Hameau du Vin, a wine-museum-cum-visitor centre in Saône-et-Loire. Exhibits range from corkscrews to the history of wine-making.

Burgundy also produces eaux-de-vie and crèmes which are made from petits fruits such as blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries and strawberries. The apéritif kir, a mixture of white wine and blackcurrant juice, was made famous by this region.

Described as 'peasant cooking raised to greatness', Burgundian cuisine has its roots in the soil. One of the most famous of the products of the south of Burgundy is the blue-footed Poulet de Bresse. These are impresssive chickens that have been given an appellation d'origine contrôlée; if you purchase a Poulet de Bresse you can be sure that it has been fed only on maize and dairy products, that it is free-range and that it comes from Bresse.

The small Burgundian hilltop village of Taizé welcomes many thousands of young people all year round. They are drawn here to share for a short time in the religious life of an ecumenical community of monks, founded by Brother Roger in 1940. Another religious connection is St Bernard de Clairvaux, counsellor of kings and popes, and one of the region's most famous sons. His influence on both spiritual thought and ecclesiastical architecture was great (many abbeys stand as monuments to him, including Fontenay, Pontigny, Vézelay etc).

More than 2000 years ago the last, decisive act of the Roman conquest of Gaul was played out in Burgundy: the victory of Julius Caesar over the young Gaulish nobleman Vercingetorix in 52BC shaped the history of the entire French nation. Traces of Gallo-Roman Burgundy are to be found in a host of localities, most notably Alise-Ste-Reine (formerly known as Alésia, and the site of the battle) and Bibracte, a camp on mont Beuvray (many artefacts from the site can be seen in the museum of Autun).