Free Walking Tour Dijon: Darcy to Saint-Bénigne

The Dijon Walking Tour, Stop by Stop through the Old Centre

1. 1

   Jardin Darcy

   

   Begin in Dijon's first public park, laid out in 1880 to plans by Félix Vionnois. The centrepiece is easy to spot: an octagonal tower in neo-Renaissance style, a masonry ground floor topped by an open ring of columns that carries the roof. In front of it, water runs down a terraced fountain and cascade framed by pale balustrades, and the whole design is built on symmetry. Benches, a lawn for lounging and a children's playground make this a gentle place to start.

   That tower is really a lid. Between 1838 and 1840 the Dijon-born engineer Henry Darcy built a drinking-water reservoir on this spot, a basin 28 metres across holding 350,000 litres. Pipes brought the water from the upper Suzon valley, about twelve kilometres away, to a town of roughly 29,000 people, which made Dijon one of the first cities with a modern water supply.

   The architect Émile Sagot covered the basin and crowned it with the tower, which is why you will hear it called the Monument à Darcy, the Château d'eau or the Monument du réservoir des fontaines. Look at the door in the ground floor: it still leads into the reservoir, and the bust above it is Darcy himself. Vionnois then set his fountain directly below the reservoir, so the park quite literally grew out of the waterworks.

   From here the longest leg of the walk, 1140 m or about 15 minutes, takes you into the old centre; on the way you pass the Owl Trail, the Musée Rude and the Musée des Beaux-Arts before reaching Saint-Michel Church.

   Hours

   Daily: 07:30–19:00

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Jardin Darcy on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Saint-Michel Church

   

   Stand back for the façade, because it is the reason people come here. It is counted among the finest Renaissance fronts in France: the south portal was finished in 1537, the central portal in 1551, while the towers took more than another century and were only completed in 1659 and 1667. Their tops were rebuilt to the same design at the end of the 17th century.

   The site is much older than the stone. Saint-Michel is first mentioned in 889, probably as a simple wooden chapel near the walls of the castrum of Dijon. When it grew too small, Garnier de Mailly, abbot of Saint-Étienne, had a church almost 58.5 metres long built in its place, consecrated in 1020; he was buried here in 1051.

   On 17 July 1497 the parish decided to build again, funded by subscription among the parishioners, and wealthy families paid for their own side chapels. The new church was consecrated on 29 July 1529. Step inside and the contrast with the façade is plain: after some hesitation the builders chose a rather austere Flamboyant Gothic, with sculpture only around the pillars of the crossing. In 1763 the sanctuary was raised, and the choir and transept pillars were clad in fine Greek-style wood panelling.

   Going in is free and ten minutes is enough for the panelling and the feeling of a Gothic church hiding behind a Renaissance face. Between 1791 and 1794 the church also sheltered the relic known as the Sainte-Hostie. Next comes a short 420 m, about 6 minutes, to Notre-Dame de Dijon.

   Hours

   Daily 08:30–18:30 (in winter until 18:00)

   Price

   0 EUR

   Website

   saint-michel-dijon.com ↗

   Location

   Saint-Michel Church on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Notre-Dame de Dijon

   

   Notre-Dame stands on Place Notre-Dame in the heart of the protected old centre, opposite the rue Musette. Before the 12th century a small chapel, the chapelle Sainte-Marie, stood here outside the city walls; it was rebuilt in Romanesque style around 1150. In the early 13th century the people of Dijon began the Gothic church you see now.

   It sat in the middle of a crowded popular quarter, so space was short, and its architect, whose name is lost, answered with new techniques. The whole weight of the roof and its framing rests on pillars rather than flying buttresses, which left as much floor as possible for the interior. Vauban admired it, and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc called it “a masterpiece of reason” in his dictionary of French architecture.

   The restoration from 1865 to 1884 is often credited to Viollet-le-Duc, but it was the Parisian architect Jean Charles Laisné who led it. He tried to bring back the original look: later additions were removed, the crossing tower became a lantern tower again and ruined sculptures were remade.

   Two symbols of Dijon belong to this church, the jacquemart, a bell-striking automaton, and the owl, so keep an eye out for both. Inside the Latin-cross nave, look for the statue of Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir, once called the Black Madonna. Entry is free, and twenty minutes is a good visit for anyone. The Hôtel de Vogüé is only 50 m away, by the apse end of the church.

   Hours

   Mon–Sat: 08:00–18:00 | Sun: 09:00–18:00

   Price

   0 EUR

   Location

   Notre-Dame de Dijon on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Hôtel de Vogüé

   

   At 8 rue de la Chouette, beside the apse end of Notre-Dame, stands a richly decorated 17th-century town mansion, listed as a historic monument on 5 January 1911. It is regarded as the prototype of Dijon's parliamentary mansions, the hôtels built by members of the Burgundian parlement. You enjoy it from the street.

   It grew out of three houses. Jean Bouhier, councillor at the parlement, bought the first in 1589; his son Étienne Bouhier de Chevigny, magistrate and councillor of the parlement of Burgundy from 1607 to 1635 and a keen art lover, added two more in 1615 and 1617. The year 1614 carved on the great fireplace of the guards' hall marks the front right wing as the original core, not the date the house was finished.

   Family tradition says Étienne designed it himself. His great-grandson wrote that he picked up a passion for architecture in Italy after studying law in Padua; the trip is unproven, but his library held Italian books, four of them on architecture and geometry, and records show him working on the Hôpital général from 1629 and on two convents until his death in 1635. He most likely still needed technical help with the plans.

   The name came later: in 1766 the house passed to the Vogüé family when Catherine Bouhier de Versalieu married Count Cerice-François Melchior de Vogüé on 29 November. From here it is 110 m, about 2 minutes, to the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy.

   Price

   Free to view from outside

   Website

   dijon.fr ↗

   Location

   Hôtel de Vogüé on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy

   

   What you see is not one building but an ensemble. The oldest part is the Gothic ducal palace of the 14th and 15th centuries: the logis still visible on Place de la Libération, the ducal kitchens on the Cour de Bar, the Tour de Bar and the Tour de Philippe le Bon, a watchtower looking out over the whole city. Most of the rest was built in the 17th and above all the 18th century in neoclassical style, when the palace was a royal residence and housed the Estates of Burgundy.

   The duchy goes back to around 880, when Richard of Autun, known as Richard the Justiciar, became its first duke; the seat was then a simple castle. Philip the Bold started the rebuilding with the Tour de Bar, designed by Belin de Comblanchien and completed in 1365. Its best-known resident was a prisoner: René of Anjou, captured at the Battle of Bulgnéville on 2 July 1431, was held in the tower until 1437.

   East of the tower stood the Sainte-Chapelle, begun with its choir in 1196 and consecrated in 1500. It was demolished in 1802, and in the 19th century the museum façade on place de la Sainte-Chapelle went up on its site. Today the palace holds Dijon's city hall and the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

   The courtyard and the museum's permanent collection are free, so going in is an easy decision if you care about art; allow at least an hour. Then walk 230 m, about 3 minutes, along Rue des Forges to Place François Rude.

   Local name

   Palais des ducs de Bourgogne

   Hours

   Musée des Beaux-Arts: 1 Oct-31 May 09:30–18:00, 1 Jun-30 Sep 10:00–18:30, Tue closed

   Price

   0 EUR palace courtyard & Musée des Beaux-Arts permanent exhibition

   Website

   bourgogne-tourisme.com ↗

   Location

   Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Place François Rude

   

   Locals call this pedestrian square the place du Bareuzai, after the bronze figure on its fountain, though that name was never official. It lies where rue des Forges, rue François-Rude and rue de la Liberté meet, and it honours the sculptor François Rude (1784 to 1855), who was born close by at 5 rue François-Rude.

   The square is younger than it looks. In 1904 a block of old houses between the rue du Lacet and the rue de la Tonnellerie was cleared, taking the medieval Hôtel de Rochefort-Lucey with it, and the open space was laid out. The fountain in the middle, designed by the architect Paul Deshérault, went up the same year.

   Look at the top: a verdigris bronze of a winegrower treading grapes, standing in a vat of which only the rim is shown on the pedestal. Noël-Jules Girard made the figure in the 1850s and the Thiébaut Frères foundry cast it. In Burgundy a bareuzai was the person who trod the grapes, a name tied to the legs that came out of the vat stained pink.

   Then take in the frame around you: on the north side a medieval half-timbered house, home to the restaurant Au Moulin à Vent; on the east side an 18th-century building on the corner of rue de la Liberté and the Maison Foucherot, built of dressed stone in 1775 by the Dijon architect Claude Saintpère. The last leg is 430 m, about 6 minutes, to Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   0 EUR

   Location

   Place François Rude on Google Maps ↗

7. 7

   Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne

   

   The walk ends at Dijon's cathedral, a Gothic building raised between 1280 and 1325 and dedicated on 9 April 1393. It began as the church of the Abbey of St. Benignus, became the cathedral during the French Revolution when the previous one was secularised, and has been the seat of the Archbishop of Dijon since 2002.

   The story underneath reaches much further back. In 511 Saint Gregory of Langres built a crypt for the supposed sarcophagus of Saint Benignus, and a basilica above it was completed in 535. In 869 Bishop Isaac of Langres refounded the abbey as a Benedictine house; by 989 it had declined so far that monks were called in from Cluny, and in 990 William of Volpiano became abbot.

   William's Romanesque church, begun by 1002 and dedicated in October 1016, joined three parts: an underground church around the sarcophagus, a church for worship at ground level, and a rotunda 17 metres in diameter on three levels in place of the apse, linking the two. Only a few traces of its ornate Cluniac decoration survive. In 1137 a fire swept through most of Dijon and damaged the church; Pope Eugene III consecrated the repaired building in 1147.

   A visit costs an entry fee, and it is worth it if you want to stand on a site of worship that goes back to the 6th century.

   Hours

   Mon–Fri 09:00–12:00 & 14:00–18:30, Sat 09:00–12:00 & 14:00–17:30

   Price

   EUR 5 adult; EUR 3 reduced; free for children

   Website

   cathedrale-dijon.fr ↗

   Location

   Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Dijon

The full route in its listed order is the recommendation, but Dijon's centre is compact enough to trim the walk to the time you have.

The full walk

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

For a first visit with a morning or afternoon to spare: park, three churches, the ducal palace and the square, 32 minutes of walking in total. The only ticket is Saint-Bénigne.

Start in the old town

Stops: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

For anyone arriving in the centre rather than from the station side: skipping Jardin Darcy removes the longest leg and leaves 18 minutes of walking. Saint-Bénigne is still the only paid entry.

The heart and the museum

Stops: 3, 4, 5

For art lovers or a short stay: Notre-Dame de Dijon, the Hôtel de Vogüé and the palace lie 3 minutes apart on foot, and all three are free, so the time goes into the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

How Long This Dijon Tour Takes, With and Without the Museum

Almost half of the walking is the first leg, 1140 m from Jardin Darcy to Saint-Michel Church; after that no stretch is longer than 430 m. With short visits to the park, the churches, the palace courtyard and the square, the full route fills a little over two hours. Add at least an hour if you go into the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

Starting at Saint-Michel Church brings the outing down to roughly an hour and three quarters. The short version around Notre-Dame and the palace needs only a few minutes on foot; how long it lasts depends entirely on the museum.

Before You Set Off from Jardin Darcy

• Start: Jardin Darcy, on the link between the Dijon-Ville station and the old centre. It is the recommended start, but you can join the route at any stop.
• End: Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne. The route does not loop back; if you want to return to the park, the GPS navigation leads you there.
• Best day and time: Start in the morning if you want enough time for both the Musée des Beaux-Arts and Saint-Bénigne, the two longest visits on the route.
• Costs: Everything on the walk is free except Saint-Bénigne. Route, map and GPS navigation cost nothing. The AI Tour Guide starts with 100 free credits; after that you choose between this tour all-inclusive for €19.99 with no time limit, or credits at €5 per hour.

Common Questions About Walking Dijon