Rue de la Liberté

The Rue de la Liberté is the main shopping street of Dijon, a long pedestrian avenue that runs through the historic centre from the Place Darcy, near the Porte Guillaume, to the Place de la Libération, the semicircular square in front of the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. It is lined with shops and cafés and with the flags and banners that mark Dijon's role as the capital of Burgundy, and it is the street along which the city goes about its business, so it is a good introduction to the town. The Place de la Libération, a royal square laid out in the late seventeenth century to honour Louis XIV, was given its present name in 1948, in memory of the liberation of Dijon in 1944.

The street follows the line of an old route through the town, and many of the buildings along it were rebuilt in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with elegant stone facades and ironwork balconies. Behind them are older courtyards and houses, among them townhouses with Renaissance details, that the visitor can sometimes glimpse through open doors. The architecture of the centre of Dijon, with its tiled roofs and its houses of pale stone, goes back a thousand years in places, and the quarter around the street is full of history. Side streets lead to the Place François Rude, a lively square with a statue of a grape treader, the Bareuzai, and to the Rue des Forges, a medieval street lined with fine mansions.

Shopping here includes the usual high street names but also regional specialities, and the Burgundy food on sale is one of the main reasons to visit. Dijon is famous for its mustard, the sharp condiment made with brown mustard seeds and white wine or verjuice, which has been made in the city since the Middle Ages, and a famous mustard shop on the street sells it in decorated jars and flavours. Though the name remains protected, most of the seeds used today are imported, many from Canada. Other products to look for are gingerbread, crème de cassis, the blackcurrant liqueur used in a kir, and wines of the Côte d'Or. A gourmet shop on the street offers regional products, cooking classes and demonstrations.

The street is free and open at all times, with shops following ordinary commercial hours, usually from the morning until early evening. It suits shoppers, food lovers and visitors who want an easy orientation in the old town. It is within a short walk of the Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, the Église Saint-Bénigne and the gardens of the Arquebuse.