Chartreuse de Champmol
France > Burgundy > Dijon > Chartreuse de Champmol
One of the greatest of Dijon's artistic monuments lies some 1.5km west of the city centre along avenue Albert-1er, beyond the gare SNCF. It is the Chartreuse de Champmol (daily 9am–6pm; free), founded by Duke Philippe le Hardi in 1383 to be the burial place of his dynasty – Dijon's equivalent of the cathedral of St-Denis in Paris. To adorn it, Philippe recruited a talented team of artists, foremost among them the Dutchman Claus Sluter, pioneer of Realism in sculpture and founder of the Burgundian school. Although it was practically destroyed in the Revolution and most of the surviving works of art are in the city's museums, two of Sluter's finest – the so-called Well of Moses, featuring six highly realistic portrayals of Old Testament prophets, and the portal of the chapel – remain in situ. The site is now part of a psychiatric hospital, and you enter at 1 bd Chanoine-Kir (20min walk, or bus #12 from the station, direction "Fontaine d'Ouche" to stop "Hôpital des Chartreux"). On the way from the station to the Chartreuse de Champmol, you pass Dijon's waxworks, the Musée Grevin at 13b av Albert-1er (daily 9.30am–noon & 2–6pm; €5), a not wildly interesting experience, consisting principally of scenes from Burgundy's history. You're better off strolling in the botanical garden, the Jardin de l'Arquebuse (daily 7.30am–6/8pm), site of the Natural History Museum (Mon & Wed–Fri 9am–noon & 2–6pm, Tues, Sat & Sun 2–6pm; €2.20), with just about every stuffed bird and mammal you can think of, plus an exquisite collection of butterflies.
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