The Butter Square

The Place-au-Beurre

The Quimper audio-guided tour leads you to the Place-au-Beurre, whose gourmet name recalls the merchant past of the heart of the city.

The square of the butter merchants

Until the middle of the twentieth century, the centre of Quimper was the meeting point of all sorts of merchant activities: dairymen on the Place Médard, florists on the Rue Astor, fishmongers along the Steïr. First named Place aux Ruches, then Place du Beurre de pot, the present Place-au-Beurre has borne this name since 1792: it is here that the merchants of dairy products and butter gathered. The latter, particularly salty according to Breton tradition, was kept in stoneware pots. Today, the square is renowned for its crêperies and its scent of buckwheat and wheat, which make it a gourmet stop of Old Quimper.

What there is to see

The Place-au-Beurre charms with its gourmet name, its old houses and its many crêperies, which smell of buckwheat and wheat. A witness of the merchant past of Quimper, it is the ideal place to taste a Breton crêpe in a picturesque setting. A tasty stop in the heart of Old Quimper.

Practical information

The Place-au-Beurre is in Old Quimper. A public square lined with crêperies, it can be walked freely at all hours and on the level; the establishments follow their own hours.

Where does the name of the Place-au-Beurre come from?

From the merchants of butter and dairy products who gathered there; it has borne this name since 1792.

What can one do on the Place-au-Beurre today?

Taste a Breton crêpe in one of the many crêperies, in a setting of old houses.