The Fountain of Justice
A painted sixteenth-century figure — the city's oldest fountain.
Gzzz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0
The Place de la Palud is Lausanne's oldest square and the heart of its old town: a cobbled space ringed by coloured houses with wooden shutters, with the seventeenth-century **town hall** and its clock standing at one end. At its centre is the sixteenth-century **Fountain of Justice**, its painted figure of a blindfolded woman holding scales — the city's oldest fountain. On an adjoining façade is an **animated clock**: its windows open on the hour (between nine in the morning and seven in the evening) and carved figures representing the history of the canton of Vaud file past — a short free show that children gather for. The square holds a market twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday mornings) of vegetables, cheese and flowers, and from it the old town's lanes climb toward the cathedral by way of the **covered market stairs**. The cafés around it are the best place to sit in Lausanne.
A painted sixteenth-century figure — the city's oldest fountain.
Carved figures telling the canton's history each hour.
A seventeenth-century façade at the square's end.
Place de la Palud, 1003 Lausanne
Escaliers du MarchéThe Escaliers du Marché are the covered wooden stairs linking the Place de la Pa3 minutes walk
Lausanne CathedralThe Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Lausanne is **Switzerland's most important Gothic5 minutes walk4.7
Palais de RumineThe Palais de Rumine is a vast neo-Florentine Renaissance building dominating th6 minutes walk4.7
Plateforme 10 (the Arts District)Plateforme 10 is Lausanne's new arts district and the most significant recent cu7 minutes walk4.4
Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (MCBA)The Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (MCBA) is the principal art museum of Lausanne 7 minutes walk4.6Start at the **Place de la Palud** (the animated clock, the fountain, the cafés), climb the **covered market stairs** to the **cathedral** (the view and the tower climb), descend west to the **Place de la Riponne** and the Palais de Rumine with its free museums, then take the m2 metro down to **Ouchy** and the lake to end the day on the promenade. A full half-day on foot, and most of it free.