--- title: "Place de la Libération: How to Visit and What to See" description: "Place de la Libération is the grand semicircular square in front of the Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy, at the heart of old Dijon." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/place-de-la-liberation-dijon lang: en updated: 2026-10-08 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/place-de-la-liberation-dijon.png --- # Place de la Libération > Place de la Libération: Dijon's half-moon royal square, laid out by Louis XIV's architect in front of the Palace of the Dukes. Place de la Libération is in Dijon (Côte-d'Or), 44 min by road (48 km) from Beaune. Allow 20 to 30 minutes · UNESCO World Heritage · Private driver from Beaune: €120 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Place de la Libération is the grand semicircular square in front of the Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy, at the heart of old Dijon. Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the architect of Versailles, designed it in the 1680s as a royal square. Today it is pedestrian, paved in Burgundy stone and lined with café terraces around three fountains of water jets. ## Key facts - Type: Heritage - Location: 35 km north-east of Beaune · Côte-d'Or - Coordinates: 47.3213, 5.0414 - 44 min from Beaune - Allow 20 to 30 minutes - UNESCO World Heritage - Where: [Dijon · Côte-d'Or](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/dijon) - From Beaune: ≈ 44 min · 48 km - €120 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) - Or add it to our [full-day wine tour, €560](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day). ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 44 min by road (48 km), €120 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 square was laid out between 1686 and 1689 to plans by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, on the site of a small square and old buildings of the ducal palace. It was designed as a setting for a bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV by Étienne Le Hongre. The statue weighed 26 tonnes. Its journey from Paris began in 1692 but stopped at Auxerre, where it stayed for 27 years before reaching Dijon in 1720. It was inaugurated in 1725 and destroyed on 15 August 1792, and part of its bronze went to the cannon foundries of Le Creusot. The square's name followed the politics of France. Place Royale became Place d'Armes in 1792, Place Impériale in 1804, Place Royale again in 1814 and Place d'Armes once more in 1831. The town council named it after Marshal Pétain in 1941, and it took its present name at the Liberation of Dijon in September 1944. General de Gaulle spoke here on 23 October 1944. Canon Félix Kir, later mayor of Dijon, lived at No. 4 and survived an assassination attempt there in January 1944. The facades of the arcaded houses around the hemicycle have been classified as historic monuments since 1937. In 2005 and 2006 the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte turned the square, then a car park, into a pedestrian space. He replaced the tarmac with Comblanchien stone and added three fountains whose water is collected and recycled. Archaeological remains under the paving ruled out planting trees. ## What you will see Stand in the middle of the hemicycle and turn slowly. On one side rises the classical facade of the palace, now the town hall and the Fine Arts Museum, with the Tour Philippe le Bon behind it. On the other runs the curve of arcaded houses, with their café and restaurant terraces. Jets of water spring straight from the paving, and in summer children run between them. At night the facades are lit and the square is at its most elegant. ## Planning your visit The square is open at all times and free. Allow 20 to 30 minutes, or longer with a drink on a terrace. It is the natural start of a walk through the old town: the Fine Arts Museum is in the palace, rue des Forges and the owl of Notre-Dame are a few minutes away on foot, and rue de la Liberté leads west to the Porte Guillaume. The centre is largely pedestrian, so plan to be dropped off at its edge. ## Did you know? The bronze Louis XIV for which the square was built weighed 26 tonnes. The roads were so poor that it waited 27 years at Auxerre and only reached Dijon in 1720, pulled by twenty pairs of oxen. ## Around Place de la Libération What to combine with Place de la Libération on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/dijon) (1 km away): Burgundy's historic capital, city of the Valois dukes and northern gateway to the Route des Grands Crus. - [Marsannay-la-Côte](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/marsannay-la-cote) (7 km away): Gateway to the Côte de Nuits and Burgundy's only village appellation making red, white and rosé. - [Fixin](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/fixin) (10 km away): A quiet wine village with Napoleon in the woods, a Romanesque church in the vines and firm reds. ### Châteaux - [Château de Montmusard](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-montmusard) (1 km away): The surviving wing of a daring neoclassical pleasure house designed by Charles De Wailly. - [Château de Fontaine-lès-Dijon (Maison natale de saint Bernard)](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-fontaine-les-dijon), 3 km away: The hilltop birthplace of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, overlooking Dijon. - [Château de Marsannay](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-marsannay) (7 km away): A modern wine château at the northern gateway to the Côte de Nuits. ### Things to do - [Palace of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy (Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/palais-des-ducs-dijon), 1 km away: The seat of Burgundy's dukes and later of its Estates, now Dijon's town hall and museum. - [Tower of Philip the Good (Tour Philippe le Bon)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/tour-philippe-le-bon), 1 km away: Climb 316 steps up the dukes' 46-metre tower for a sweeping view over Dijon's rooftops. - [Magnin Museum (Musée national Magnin)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-magnin), 1 km away: A brother and sister's art collection, shown as a private home in a 17th-century mansion. ### Restaurants - [Loiseau des Ducs](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/loiseau-des-ducs-dijon) (1 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): The Loiseau signature in Dijon, served beneath the vaults of a sixteenth-century mansion - [La Maison des Cariatides](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/la-maison-des-cariatides-dijon) (1 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A chef couple from Le Bristol regains a star behind one of Dijon's most ornate Renaissance façades - [CIBO](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/cibo-dijon) (1 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A starred table in old Dijon that sources everything within 200 kilometres ### Events - **Saturday, 10 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Show les papilles](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/show-les-papilles-dijon): Dijon's free festival of taste at the Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin. (Food & markets · Dijon) - **Sunday, 11 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Marathon des Grands Crus](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/marathon-des-grands-crus): A marathon on the closed Route des Grands Crus, from Dijon to the Clos de Vougeot and back. (Sport · Dijon) - **Friday 23 – Sunday 25 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Salon des Vignerons Indépendants de Bourgogne et du Jura](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/salon-vignerons-independants-dijon): Some sixty independent growers from Burgundy and the Jura pour and sell their wines in Dijon. (Wine festival · Dijon) - **Saturday 31 October – Wednesday 11 November 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Foire internationale et gastronomique de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/foire-gastronomique-dijon): Burgundy's great food fair, held every autumn in Dijon since 1921. (Food & markets · Dijon) - **Usually from the last Saturday of November to the first Sunday of January.** · [Les Fééries de Noël de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/feeries-de-noel-dijon): Chalets, vin chaud, an ice rink and a big wheel across the heart of Dijon. (Christmas · Dijon) - **Usually from late November to early December.** · [Les Nuits d’Orient et d’ailleurs](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/nuits-d-orient-et-d-ailleurs-dijon): Dijon's winter festival of music, dance and art from the Orient and beyond. (Culture · Dijon) - **Each year on the weekend after the Saint-Vincent Tournante, usually a Saturday in late January or early February.** · [Saint-Vincent de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/saint-vincent-de-dijon): Dijon honours the patron saint of winegrowers with a parade and a tasting village. (Tradition · Dijon) - **Usually a weekend in early June.** · [Grand Prix de l’Âge d’Or](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/grand-prix-age-d-or-dijon-prenois): France's oldest historic motor racing meeting, on the hills just outside Dijon. (Sport · Prenois) - **Every Sunday from late June to late September.** · [Le Brunch des Halles](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/brunch-des-halles-dijon): Summer Sunday brunches cooked by local chefs under Dijon's iron market hall. (Food & markets · Dijon) - **Every two years, in even-numbered years; recent editions were held in early July. The next is expected in 2028.** · [Les Fêtes de la Vigne de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/fetes-de-la-vigne-dijon): Dijon's international folk festival, born in 1946 and held every two years. (Culture · Dijon) - **Friday 27 – Sunday 29 August 2027 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Golden Coast Festival](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/golden-coast-festival-dijon): Three days of French and international rap in a park on the edge of Dijon. (Music · Dijon) - **Usually a Sunday in mid September.** · [Vélotour Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/velotour-dijon): A playful bike ride through Dijon that opens places normally closed to cyclists. (Sport · Dijon) - **Usually the third weekend of September, during the European Heritage Days.** · [Fête de la Pressée](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/fete-de-la-pressee-chenove): The dukes' giant wine presses come back to life in Chenôve's old village. (Tradition · Chenôve) - **Usually the last days of September and the first days of October.** · [Tribu Festival](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/tribu-festival-dijon): Dijon's festival of world music, jazz and adventurous sounds, at the turn of October. (Music · Dijon) ## Questions about Place de la Libération ### How far is Place de la Libération from Beaune? Place de la Libération is about 44 min from Beaune by road (48 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €120 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Place de la Libération take? For the visit, allow 20 to 30 minutes. ### Is Place de la Libération a UNESCO World Heritage site? Yes. Place de la Libération is part of a site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. ### Can a private driver take us to Place de la Libération? 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. → [Full-day wine tour, €560](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:placeliberation): €120 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - --- Canonical page: