Bibracte

Bibracte was the capital of the Aedui, one of the most powerful Gallic tribes, perched on the 821-metre summit of Mont Beuvray in Burgundy's Morvan highlands. At its height in the late second and first centuries BC, the oppidum was among the largest settlements north of the Alps, with an estimated population of 10,000, specialised craftsmen, and monumental fortified gates. Julius Caesar is said to have wintered here after his victory over Vercingetorix in 52 BC, writing part of his Gallic Wars on site. Systematic excavations began in the 1860s under Napoleon III, and today a purpose-built Musée de Bibracte combines artefacts from the digs with open-air access to the excavation fields themselves. Forest trails wind through the extensive plateau, past reconstructed ramparts and quiet ruin fields that convey the sheer scale of this long-vanished Celtic city.