Posted on 04.03.2016, 15.05.2016
Located in central France, in the northwest of the region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, bordering Île-de-France, Yonne department was created in 1790 during the French Revolution. It was named after the river Yonne, a left tributary of the Seine, which rises in the Morvan hills and flows northwards through department. The Canal de Bourgogne, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, joins the River Yonne through locks at Migennes a little further north from Auxerre.
Auxerre, the biggest city and the capital of the department, was once a flourishing Gallo-Roman centre (Autissiodorum), through which passed one of the main roads of the area, the Via Agrippa. In the late 11th-early 12th century the existing communities were included inside a new line of walls built by the feudal Counts of Auxerre. The Burgundian city became part of France under King Louis XI. It was noted for its production of Burgundy wine since the 12th century.
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