Espace François-Mitterrand, Memorial park in Château-Chinon, France

Espace François-Mitterrand is a memorial park set within an oak forest overlooking the Bazois plain and distinguished by sixty-seven oak trees surrounding a central oak of remembrance. The grounds feature walking paths that guide visitors through the space and connect different areas together.

The park commemorates François Mitterrand's role as a resistance fighter who built a network in Burgundy during World War II and met his future wife Danielle Gouze in Château-Chinon in 1944. These personal and political connections shaped Mitterrand's relationship with the town for decades.

The entrance gate carries a bronze bust of Mitterrand beside the silhouette of his labrador Baltique. In the Salle des Échanges, a crypt-like room, stands 'Laser', a metal sculpture read as the mind's rule over matter. The oak grove is a plantation of sixty-seven trees, with the 'chêne du souvenir' at its centre planted by Danielle Mitterrand.

The park is freely accessible throughout the year and offers a circuit of about two kilometers for visitors wishing to explore the grounds. The paths are well-laid and allow guests to take in the offerings at their own pace.

The dolmen on the grounds refers to the Gallic Wars of 52 BC, when Vercingetorix joined his Arverni, victors of Caesar at Gergovia, to the Aedui at Bibracte before facing the Romans at Alesia. Mitterrand read this alliance as a first sketch of French national unity.