--- title: "Musée Vivant Denon, Chalon: Art and Archaeology Museum" description: "Chalon's art and archaeology museum, named after the Louvre's first director: 100,000 years of collections. About an hour. Private driver from Beaune." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-vivant-denon lang: en updated: 2026-09-30 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/musee-vivant-denon.png --- # Vivant Denon Museum (Musée Vivant Denon) > Vivant Denon Museum: Chalon's museum of art and archaeology, named after the first director of the Louvre. Vivant Denon Museum is in Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire), 35 min by road (35 km) from Beaune. Allow 1 to 1.5 hours · Private driver from Beaune: €125 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. The Musée Vivant Denon occupies a neoclassical building in the centre of Chalon. Its collections span some 100,000 years, from flint tools and finds from the Saône to European paintings and drawings. It is named after Dominique Vivant Denon, born in Chalon, who became the first director of what is now the Louvre. ## Key facts - Type: Museums - Where: Chalon-sur-Saône · Saône-et-Loire - Location: 25 km south of Beaune · Saône-et-Loire - Coordinates: 46.7812, 4.8523 - 35 min from Beaune - Allow 1 to 1.5 hours - Chalon-sur-Saône - Official website: [museedenon.com](https://www.museedenon.com/) - From Beaune: ≈ 35 min · 35 km - €125 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) - Or add it to our [half-day wine tour plus one hour, €360](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/half-day). ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 35 min by road (35 km), €125 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History The building was first a free drawing school, founded by Jacques-François Carbillet to train craftsmen, and was put up around 1820 in a neoclassical style. The museum opened in 1866, run with the help of two learned societies. In 1908, under its second director, it took the name of Vivant Denon, the artist, diplomat and administrator regarded as a pioneer of the modern museum. The collections grew through gifts and local discoveries. Much of the archaeology comes from the bed of the Saône, which preserved objects from the Bronze and Iron Ages, and the museum developed methods of underwater excavation in the river. Today it holds more than 36,000 works and objects, including some 25,000 archaeological pieces. The building has been protected as a historic monument since 2004. ## What you will see Start with the archaeology rooms, where the Saône is the thread: flint tools, bronze weapons and Gallo-Roman sculpture, including a lion bringing down a barbarian gladiator. Look for the stele dedicated to Souconna, goddess of the Saône. The fine arts rooms show French, Italian, Flemish and Dutch painting from the 16th to the 19th century, and a graphic arts room is devoted to Vivant Denon himself. ## Planning your visit The museum is in the pedestrian centre, a few minutes' walk from Place Saint-Vincent and the Musée Nicéphore Niépce, so the three combine easily in a morning. Allow an hour or more. Temporary exhibitions, talks and family activities run through the year; check the official website for opening times. ## Did you know? Among the treasures are flint blades shaped like laurel leaves, found at Volgu in 1873. Specialists consider them some of the finest examples of flint knapping ever found. ## Around Vivant Denon Museum What to combine with Vivant Denon Museum on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Givry](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/givry) (8 km away): A small wine town of 18th-century monuments, whose red wine is linked by legend to Henri IV. - [Mercurey](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/mercurey) (12 km away): The largest vineyard of the Côte Chalonnaise, known above all for its reds. - [Rully](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/rully) (13 km away): Crisp whites, supple reds and a cradle of Burgundy's sparkling wine, below a medieval château. ### Châteaux - [Château de Taisey](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-taisey) (3 km away): A graceful house of the 1680s beside an old square tower, on a terrace above the Saône. - [Château de Germolles](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-germolles) (8 km away): The best-preserved residence of the Valois dukes of Burgundy, a country palace made for a duchess. - [Château de Saint-Germain-lès-Buxy](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-saint-germain-les-buxy) (10 km away): A moated medieval castle reinvented in the romantic troubadour style by Viollet-le-Duc's son-in-law. ### Things to do - [Église Saint-Pierre de Chalon-sur-Saône](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/eglise-saint-pierre-chalon-sur-saone) (1 km away): A Baroque church with twin domed towers, where the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny took their first vows. - [Nicéphore Niépce Museum (Musée Nicéphore Niépce)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-nicephore-niepce), 1 km away: A museum of photography in the home town of its inventor, from the first cameras to digital images. - [Old Town of Chalon-sur-Saône (Centre historique de Chalon-sur-Saône)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/centre-historique-chalon-sur-saone), 1 km away: Half-timbered houses, riverside quays and an island in the Saône, explored on a signed walking trail. ### Restaurants - [Cédric Burtin](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/cedric-burtin-saint-remy) (4 km away · 2 MICHELIN stars): Two stars in a converted mill on the southern edge of Chalon-sur-Saône. ## Questions about Vivant Denon Museum ### How far is Vivant Denon Museum from Beaune? Vivant Denon Museum is about 35 min from Beaune by road (35 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €125 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Vivant Denon Museum take? For the visit, allow 1 to 1.5 hours. ### When is Vivant Denon Museum open? Opening days and times change during the year, so check the official website (museedenon.com) before you go. Your driver can plan the day around them. ### Can a private driver take us to Vivant Denon Museum? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Half-day wine tour plus one hour, €360](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/half-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:denon): €125 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - - --- Canonical page: