Vogüé Hotel, Dijon, Guida per visitatori e cosa fare nei dintorni

The Vogüé Hotel (Hôtel de Vogüé) is a 17th-century private mansion at 8 Rue de la Chouette in the old centre of Dijon. It was built for a Burgundy parliamentary adviser, Etienne Bouhier, and later passed to the Vogüé family. It is a fine example of how classical order and Renaissance-style decoration meet in a Dijon town house.

The story behind it

Etienne Bouhier, an adviser to Parliament, had the mansion built, and it came to the Vogüé family through marriage, which is how it got the name you see today. Its design is strictly classical in layout, yet the decoration keeps the refinement of the Renaissance. Look closely and you will find a monogram, E.B.M.G, which celebrates Bouhier's second marriage, to Madeleine Giroud.

The street itself is worth knowing. Rue de la Chouette takes its name from the little owl carved on a corner of the nearby church of Notre-Dame, which Dijon people have long treated as a lucky charm. Tradition says you stroke it with your left hand, the other hand over your heart, and make a wish. Next door stands the Maison Millière, built in 1483 for the merchant Guillaume Millière, a medieval house with a shop on the ground floor and the craftsman's home above. Both the Maison Millière and the Vogüé Hotel were used as settings for scenes in the film Cyrano de Bergerac, with Gérard Depardieu.

What to look for

• The E.B.M.G monogram, a small personal detail that records Etienne Bouhier's second marriage to Madeleine Giroud.
• The balance between plain classical lines and the more ornamental Renaissance touches in the decoration.
• The timber-framed Maison Millière close by, where the shop-below, home-above plan of a medieval craftsman's house is still easy to read.
• The carved owl on the church corner nearby, polished by the hands of everyone who has made a wish there.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 10 to 15 minutes for the mansion and the street, a little longer if you queue for the owl or stop to photograph the old houses.
• Soft morning or late afternoon light shows carved detail best, and the street is usually calmer outside the middle of the day.
• Check current opening hours and access before you go if you hope to see more than the street view, as private and public parts of historic buildings can change.
• Notre-Dame and the rest of Dijon's old centre are a short walk away, so this stop fits easily into a wider stroll.

See it on a quest

On Historical Dijon: A Delivery Through Time, you reach the Vogüé Hotel on foot as one stop of a longer route through the historic centre. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot, so you look properly at the facades and details instead of walking past. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.