Fourvière () is a district of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising from the river

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name d ...

. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...

in 43 BC. The district contains many religious buildings including convents, monasteries and chapels. It is known in Lyon as "the hill that prays". Fourvière is part of a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

site designated for the city of Lyon in 1998 for its testimony to Lyon's long history as an important European settlement and its extraordinary architecture.http://www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/en/tourisme/fil_quartier/fourviere Official site of Lyon

Description

Fourviere supports the world's two oldest and active

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ...

railway lines, and is known for the Catholic Basilica of Fourvière. The inauguration of the golden statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

on the north-west tower is the origin of the famous 8 December Festival of Lights, when the citizens of Lyon display candles (''lumignons'') at their windows. This festival now attracts hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of Lyon every year. On the south side of Fourvière are the vast ruins of

Roman Baths In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...

, partially intact ruins of a

Roman Theatre Roman theatres derive from and are part of the overall evolution of earlier Greek theatres. Indeed, much of the architectural influence the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings. However ...

(15 BC) and a 2nd Century Roman Odéon rediscovered in the 20th century and now home to a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

as well as a series of concerts and operas throughout the summer.

La Tour Métallique

Fourvière hill is home to the La Tour Métallique, one of Lyon's most easily recognizable landmarks, which was privately built by the land-owners to rival the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. It forms the highest point in Lyon and is in fact higher than the Eiffel Tower at its summit, due to it being on a hill. It is now a television relay tower.

Funicular railway

Fourviere supports the world's two oldest and active

railway lines. The Funiculars of Lyon ('Funiculaires de Lyon') is a network of

railways. Of the five lines once in existence, only the two routes on the Fourvière hill remain in operation, with the rest of the network now either closed, converted to road vehicle use, or integrated within the Lyon underground system.

Modern infrastructure

A double motorway tunnel passes under Fourvière, connecting the A6 autoroute (coming from

) and the A7 autoroute (coming from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

), both forming the "Autoroute du Soleil". Prior to the construction of the bypass of Lyon by the east, and with Lyon being virtually the only low passage between the Alps and the Massif Central (extinct) volcano range, the tunnel was famous for its

traffic jam Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

s caused by a combination of local traffic, that of neighboring countries, as well as traffic between northern and southern France.

Threats to survival

The hill is very fragile in places due to springs, underground streams, ancient tunnels and aqueducts, which have caused several subsidences in the past.

Gallery

Image:Lyon Basilique de Fourvière Front view.jpg, Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the Saint-Thomas chapel on the right. Image:Le chevet de la Basilique de Fourvière, Lyon.JPG, The chevet of the Basilica. Image:Roman theatre in Lyon.jpg,

Ancient Theatre of Fourvière The Ancient Theatre of Fourvière (french: Théâtre antique de Lyon) is a Roman theatre in Lyon, France. It was built on the hill of Fourvière, which is located in the center of the Roman city. The theatre is part of a UNESCO World Heritage S ...

Image:Tour metallique de fourviere.jpg, The

metallic tower of Fourvière The Tour métallique de Fourvière ("Metallic tower of Fourvière"), a landmark of Lyon, France, is a steel framework tower which bears a striking resemblance to the Eiffel Tower, which predates it by three years. With a height of 85.9 metres (2 ...

Image:Eglisesaintjustlyon.JPG, The Saint-Just church

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fourviere 5th arrondissement of Lyon Quarters of Lyon World Heritage Sites in France