Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne
Rising above the Place de la Libération, Dijon's ducal palace is the beating heart of the city — a magnificent ensemble of medieval towers, classical courtyards and gilded rooftops that once housed the most powerful rulers in northern Europe. Step inside and you step into the 14th century without leaving the city centre.
A Palace Born of Power
The palace complex grew over four centuries, blending Gothic ambition with Louis XIV-era grandeur. The semicircular Place de la Libération, designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1686, frames the façade like a stage set — best appreciated at dusk when the honey-stone glows amber.
Don't miss the Tour Philippe le Bon, the 46-metre Gothic tower built in the 1450s. Climbing its 316 steps rewards you with a 360-degree panorama over Dijon's famous polychrome tile rooftops, the Burgundian plain and, on clear days, the first ridges of the Côte d'Or.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts Inside
The palace's east wing houses one of France's oldest and richest fine-arts museums, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, free to enter for the permanent collection. The Salle des Gardes alone is worth the visit: it shelters the jaw-dropping painted and gilded alabaster tombs of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless, two of Burgundy's greatest dukes.
Look up at the painted wooden ceiling, then look down at the mourners — 41 tiny sculpted pleurants — carved around the base of Philip the Bold's tomb. Each face is a distinct portrait, an astonishing feat of 15th-century realism that stops visitors cold every time.
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