Darcy Garden

Laid out in 1880, Darcy was Dijon’s first public garden. It was built over a large underground drinking water reservoir created in 1838 by Henri Darcy to supply the city’s fountains. Dijon thus became one of the first cities, along with Rome, to have running water. Darcy made a major contribution to the development of the City of the Dukes, and to the health of its 29,000 inhabitants at the time. He gave his name to this garden and to the square just behind it. However, it was not he who undertook the development of the park but architect Félix Vionnois who added pretty flowerbeds, a wide variety of plants and fountains,; earning the park a place on the town’s list of Historic Monuments. The bear that welcomes you to the garden is a copy of the famous Polar Bear by Burgundian sculptor François Pompon, which can be seen in the Orsay Museum in Paris. A popular place to relax for many Dijon residents, this garden in the centre of town is beautifully decorated in the neo-renaissance style.