The Former Golden Lion Hotel

The former Hôtel du Lion d'or

The Quimper audio-guided tour presents you with the former Hôtel du Lion d'or, whose half-timbered façade adorned with faience plates is one of the most emblematic of the city.

A former prestigious inn

Under the Ancien Régime, inns named Lion d'or were common in the French provinces, and Quimper was no exception. Among the dozen hotels that the city had in the eighteenth century, an inn of the Lion d'or was first near the Médard gate, then in the episcopal palace around 1792, where it welcomed fine people, including, it is said, the Emperor of Germany or the Duke of Chartres. In 1809, the sale of the former bishopric to the department forced the hotel to move, only a few metres, to the corner of the Saint-Corentin square. In the nineteenth century, the address diversified its activities with a stagecoach relay; eight successive owners followed one another there. The façade today houses a souvenir shop.

What there is to see

The former Hôtel du Lion d'or charms with its half-timbered façade adorned with faience plates, a witness of the prestigious hotel past of Quimper. At the corner of the Saint-Corentin square, it composes one of the most typical images of the city. It is a picturesque stop, to be admired along the walk in Old Quimper.

Practical information

The former Hôtel du Lion d'or is at the corner of the Saint-Corentin square, in Old Quimper. Its façade can be contemplated freely from the street; the ground floor houses a shop, open according to its own hours.

What was the Hôtel du Lion d'or?

A prestigious inn of Quimper, which welcomed fine people before settling at the corner of the Saint-Corentin square in 1809.

What does the façade of the Lion d'or house today?

A souvenir shop, behind its famous half-timbered façade adorned with faience plates.