Place du Château, Public square in Lausanne, Switzerland

Place du Château is a public square in Lausanne, Switzerland, located on the hill of the Cité. It has a triangular shape with a paved surface marked by white parking lines, and it is bordered by the Château Saint-Maire to the north, the prefecture building to the south, and a former school building to the east.

The square occupies the site of a church founded in the 6th century by Bishop Marius. Over the centuries, it was reshaped many times, especially after 1803 when the cantonal parliament was built nearby, and in 1890 when the Saint-Maire gate and other structures were demolished to open up the space.

The square sits in the heart of the Cité, the old quarter where small bistros and craft shops line the streets. From here, you can see how the medieval town grew around the hill, with the cathedral and the château as its main landmarks.

The square is open to pedestrians at all times and can be reached on foot from the nearby streets of the Cité. It is a convenient place to pause and get your bearings, with clear views toward the lake and the mountains on days with clear weather.

The square is built on the site of the former Saint-Maire chapel, whose foundations were uncovered during construction work in the 1830s. The molasse stone from the hill was used to build both the château and the cathedral, and you can still see this grey rock in the walls around the square.