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Museums in Dijon, France | |
| Dijon has wonderful museums, and most of them are free! | ||
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Dijon has a fine collection of museums, and the city has made most of them free to the public. So it's easy to wander in and out and see them at your leisure. Note that museums in Dijon are closed on Tuesdays. Here are some you might want to visit: The Musée des Beaux Arts reopened in 2013 after an extensive—and wonderful—renovation. It is housed in the Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne (map). In addition to its large collections of paintings and sculptures, the museum also has a wealth of information on the Ducs of Burgundy and their history, and some ornate tombs and altarpieces. More...
Although not exactly a museum, the lovely Chapelle des Élus in the Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne, is well worth a visit. You enter it through the Tourist Information Office and it's near the entrance to the Musée des Beaux Arts. It's crammed full of lovely carvings of little angels. More... The Musée de la Vie Bourguignonne is the place to go to learn more about traditional life in Burgundy, mustard, and other important aspects of the region's history and culture. The museum is located in the lovely former Bernardine Monastery in the Ste-Anne District of Dijon (map). More... Just next door to the Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne is the Musée d'Art Sacré. This is located in the former Bernardine Church, with its distinctive green dome. It displays a permanent collection of various church-related art objects, and also hosts frequent temporary exhibitions. For example, when we visited the focus was on modern sacred works by female artists. Another museum housed in a former abbey is the Archaeological Museum, next to the Cathédrale St-Bénigne (map). Its collections are extensive and include paleolithic artifacts, many items from the Gallo-Roman period, and more. The sculptor François Rude, best known for the Départ des Volontaires de 1792 (also called La Marseillaise) that adorns the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, was born in Dijon. A small museum in the former Church of St-Étienne (entrance on the Rue Vaillant (map) has a collection of plaster casts of his work. In addition to the Marseillaise, Rude's works include a sculpture of Napoléon dreaming of his immortality and Joan of Arc listening to celestial voices telling her to send the English away. More... There are also some private museums in Dijon, such as the Musée Magnin, a large collection of paintings in an elegant 17th century mansion.
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Above, Musée de la Vie Bourguignonne, in the cloister of the former Bernardine convent.
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