Lyon,, ;
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
: ''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
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
and
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 deri ...
, to the northwest of the
French Alps
The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...
, southeast of Paris, north of
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 Franc ...
, southwest of
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, northeast of
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
.
The City of Lyon proper had a population of 522,969 in 2019 within its small municipal territory of ,
but together with its
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
s and
exurb
An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing density, and growth. It s ...
s the Lyon metropolitan area had a population of 2,280,845 that same year,
the second most populated in France. Lyon and 58 suburban municipalities have formed since 2015 the
Metropolis of Lyon
The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing t ...
, a directly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of most urban issues, with a population of 1,411,571 in 2019.
Lyon is the
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of the
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
and seat of the
Departmental Council of
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
(whose jurisdiction, however, no longer extends over the Metropolis of Lyon since 2015).
The capital of the
Gauls
The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
during the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, Lyon is the seat of an
archbishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
whose holder bears the title of Primate of the Gauls. Lyon became a major economic hub during the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
. The city is recognised for its
cuisine
A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...
and
gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
, as well as historical and architectural landmarks; as such, the districts of
Old Lyon, the
Fourvière hill, the
Presqu'île
The Presqu'île (literally a combination of the French words "presque" and "île" for almost and island, respectively)''Le petit Robert de la langue française'' 2007 is the central part of the City of Lyon, France. Extending from the foot of th ...
and the slopes of the
Croix-Rousse
La Croix-Rousse is a hill high in the city of Lyon, France, as well as the name of a neighborhood located on this hill. The neighborhood is divided into les pentes (slopes, belonging to the city's 1st arrondissement) and le plateau (atop the hil ...
are inscribed on the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...
. Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. Lyon played a significant role in the
history of cinema
The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century.
The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. However, the commercial, public scree ...
since
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers (, ; ), Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière (19 October 1862 – 10 April 1954) and Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864 – 6 June 1948), were French manufacturers of photography equipment, best known for their ''Ciném ...
invented the
cinematograph
Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...
there. The city is also known for its light festival, the
Fête des Lumières
The Festival of Lights (french: Fête des lumières) in Lyon, France, is a popular event that originally aimed at expressing gratitude toward Mary, mother of Jesus around December 8 of each year. This unique Lyonnaise tradition dictates that every ...
, which begins every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of "Capital of Lights".
Economically, Lyon is a major centre for banking, chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The city contains a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games; in recent years it has fostered a growing local start-up sector. The home of renowned universities and higher education schools, Lyon is the second-largest student city in France, with a university population of nearly 200,000 students within the Metropolis of Lyon. Lyon hosts the international headquarters of
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
, the
International Agency for Research on Cancer
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; french: Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer, CIRC) is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations.
Its role is to conduct and ...
, as well as
Euronews
Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective.
The majority of Eurone ...
. According to the
Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute, Lyon is considered a
Beta city, . It ranked second in France and 40th globally in Mercer's 2019
liveability rankings.
History
Ancient Lyon
According to the historian
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
, in 43 BC, the
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
ordered the creation of a settlement for Roman refugees of war with the
Allobroges
The Allobroges (Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; grc, Ἀλλοβρίγων, Ἀλλόβριγες) were a Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
...
. These refugees had been expelled from
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.[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 deri ...]
and
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
rivers. The foundation was built on
Fourvière
Fourvière () is a district of Lyon, France, a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising from the river Saône. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum in 43 BC. The district contains many religious buildings i ...
hill and officially called ''Colonia Copia Felix Munatia'', a name invoking prosperity and the blessing of the gods. The city became increasingly referred to as ''
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 settlem ...
'' (and occasionally ''Lugudunum''). The earliest translation of this Gaulish place-name as "Desired Mountain" is offered by the 9th-century ''
Endlicher Glossary
Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna.
Bio ...
''. In contrast, some modern scholars have proposed a Gaulish hill-fort named Lug
unon, after the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
god
Lugus
Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from place names and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gall ...
(cognate with
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''
Lugh
Lugh or Lug (; ga, label=Modern Irish, Lú ) is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a savior.Olmsted, Garrett. ''The God ...
'', Modern Irish ''Lú''), and ''dúnon'' (hill-fort).
![Lyon - panoramio (70)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Lyon_-_panoramio_%2870%29.jpg)
The Romans recognised that Lugdunum's strategic location at the convergence of two navigable rivers made it a natural communications hub. The city became the starting point of main
Roman roads
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
in the area, and it quickly became the capital of the province,
Gallia Lugdunensis
Gallia Lugdunensis ( French: ''Gaule Lyonnaise'') was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon ...
. Two Emperors were born in this city:
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
, whose speech is preserved in the
Lyon Tablet
The Lyon Tablet is an ancient bronze tablet that bears the transcript of a speech given by the Roman emperor Claudius. The surviving bottom portion of the tablet was discovered in 1528 by a draper in his vineyard on Croix-Rousse Hill (on the site ...
in which he justifies the nomination of Gallic Senators, and
Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
.
Early Christians
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
in Lyon were martyred for their beliefs under the reigns of various Roman emperors, most notably
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
and
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
. Local saints from this period include
Blandina
Saint Blandina (french: Blandine, c. 162–177 AD) was a Christian martyr who died in Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France) during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Context
In the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was the local Roman of ...
,
Pothinus
Pothinus or Potheinos ( grc-gre, Ποθεινὸς; early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co ...
, and
Epipodius, among others. The Greek
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
was the second bishop of Lyon during the latter part of the second century. To this day, the
archbishop of Lyon
The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...
is still referred to as "''
Primat des Gaules''".
Burgundians
The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
fleeing the destruction of
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
by the
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
in 437 were re-settled in eastern Gaul. In 443 the Romans established the
Kingdom of the Burgundians
The Kingdom of the Burgundians or First Kingdom of Burgundy was established by Germanic Burgundians in the Rhineland and then in eastern Gaul in the 5th century.
History
Background
The Burgundians, a Germanic tribe, may have migrated from the ...
, and Lugdunum became its capital in 461. In 843, under the
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...
, Lyon went to the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
Lothair I
Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...
. It later was made part of the
Kingdom of Arles
The Kingdom of Burgundy, known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles, also referred to in various context as Arelat, the Kingdom of Arles and Vienne, or Kingdom of Burgundy-Provence, was a realm established in 933 by the merger of the king ...
which was incorporated into the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
in 1033. Lyon did not come under French control until the 14th century.
Modern Lyon
Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian and leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' ...
remarked, "Historians of Lyon are not sufficiently aware of the bi-polarity between Paris and Lyon, which is a constant structure in French development...from the late Middle Ages to the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
". In the late 15th century, the
fairs
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
introduced by Italian merchants made Lyon the economic
counting house
A counting house, or counting room, was traditionally an office in which the financial books of a business were kept. It was also the place that the business received appointments and correspondence relating to demands for payment.
As the use of ...
of France. Even the ''Bourse'' (treasury), built in 1749, resembled a public bazaar where accounts were settled in the open air. When international banking moved to
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, then
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, Lyon remained the banking centre of France.
During the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, the city's development was driven by the
silk trade
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...
, which strengthened its ties to Italy. Italian influence on Lyon's architecture is still visible among historic buildings. In the late 1400s and 1500s Lyon was also a key centre of literary activity and book publishing, both of French writers (such as
Maurice Scève
Maurice Scève (c. 1501–c. 1564), was a French poet active in Lyon during the Renaissance period. He was the centre of the Lyonnese côterie that elaborated the theory of spiritual love, derived partly from Plato and partly from Petrarch. This ...
,
Antoine Heroet, and
Louise Labé
Louise Charlin Perrin Labé, ( 1524 – 25 April 1566), also identified as La Belle Cordière (The Beautiful Ropemaker), was a feminist French poet of the Renaissance born in Lyon, the daughter of wealthy ropemaker Pierre Charly and his second wif ...
) and of Italians in exile (such as
Luigi Alamanni
Luigi Alamanni (sometimes spelt Alemanni) (6 March 149518 April 1556) was an Italian poet and statesman. He was regarded as a prolific and versatile poet. He was credited with introducing the epigram into Italian poetry.
Biography
Alamanni was ...
and
Gian Giorgio Trissino
Gian Giorgio Trissino (8 July 1478 – 8 December 1550), also called Giovan Giorgio Trissino and self-styled as Giovan Giωrgio Trissino, was a Venetian Renaissance humanist, poet, dramatist, diplomat, grammarian, linguist, and philosopher.
...
).
![Siege of Lyon (1793)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Siege_of_Lyon_%281793%29.jpg)
In 1572, Lyon was a scene of mass violence by Catholics against Protestant
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s in the
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (french: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French War ...
. Two centuries later, Lyon was again convulsed by violence during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, when the citizenry rose up against the
National Convention
The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...
and supported the
Girondins
The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...
. The city was besieged by Revolutionary armies for over two months before it surrendered in October 1793. Many buildings were destroyed, especially around the
Place Bellecour
Place Bellecour is a large square in the centre of Lyon, France, to the north of the Ainay district. Measuring 312 m by 200 m (62,000 m² or 15 acres), it is one of the largest open squares (without any patches of greenery or trees) in ...
, and
Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois
Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois (; 19 June 1749 – 8 June 1796) was a French actor, dramatist, essayist, and French Revolution, revolutionary. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror and, while he saved Madam ...
and
Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (, 21 May 1759 – 25 December 1820) was a French statesman, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of Emperor Napoleon. He ...
administered the execution of more than 2,000 people. The Convention ordered that its name be changed to "Liberated City", and a plaque was erected that proclaimed "Lyons made war on Liberty; Lyons no longer exists". A decade later,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
ordered the reconstruction of all the buildings demolished during that period.
The convention was not the only target within Lyon during the French Revolution. After the Convention faded into history, the
French Directory
The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...
appeared and days after the September 4, 1797
Coup of 18 Fructidor
The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...
, a Directory's commissioner was assassinated in Lyon.
The city became an important industrial town in the 19th century. In 1831 and 1834, the ''
canut
The canuts () were Lyonnais silk workers, often working on Jacquard looms. They were primarily found in the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood of Lyon in the 19th century. Although the term generally refers to Lyonnais silk workers, silk workers in the ...
s'' (silk workers) of Lyon staged
two major uprisings for better working conditions and pay. In 1862, the first of
Lyon's extensive network of
funicular railway
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 en ...
s began operation.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Lyon was a centre for the occupying
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
forces, including
Klaus Barbie
Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primari ...
, the infamous "Butcher of Lyon". However, the city was also a stronghold of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, the many secret passages known as ''
traboule
Traboules (from Latin ''transambulare'' via vulgar Latin ''trabulare'' meaning "to cross") are a type of secret covered passageways primarily associated with the city of Lyon, France, but also located in the French cities of Villefranche-sur-Saô ...
s'', enabled people to escape
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
raids. On 3 September 1944, Lyon was liberated by the
1st Free French Division
The 1st Free French Division (french: 1re Division Française Libre, 1re DFL) was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces (FFL) during World War II, renowned for having fought the Battle of Bir Hakeim.
Consisting of troops from m ...
and the
Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur
The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...
. The city is now home to a Resistance museum.
Geography
The Rhône and Saône converge to the south of the historic city centre, forming a peninsula – the "''
Presqu'île
The Presqu'île (literally a combination of the French words "presque" and "île" for almost and island, respectively)''Le petit Robert de la langue française'' 2007 is the central part of the City of Lyon, France. Extending from the foot of th ...
''" – bounded by two large hills to the west and north and a large plain eastward.
Place Bellecour
Place Bellecour is a large square in the centre of Lyon, France, to the north of the Ainay district. Measuring 312 m by 200 m (62,000 m² or 15 acres), it is one of the largest open squares (without any patches of greenery or trees) in ...
is located on the Presqu'île between the two rivers and is the third-largest public square in France. The broad, pedestrian-only Rue de la République leads north from Place Bellecour.
The northern hill is
La Croix-Rousse
La Croix-Rousse is a hill high in the city of Lyon, France, as well as the name of a neighborhood located on this hill. The neighborhood is divided into les pentes (slopes, belonging to the city's 1st arrondissement) and le plateau (atop the hil ...
, known as "the hill that works" because it is traditionally home to many small silk workshops, an industry for which the city has long been renowned.
The western hill is
Fourvière
Fourvière () is a district of Lyon, France, a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising from the river Saône. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum in 43 BC. The district contains many religious buildings i ...
, known as "the hill that prays" because it is the location for
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière (french: Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière) is a minor basilica in Lyon, France. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominant position overlooking the city. The site it occupies was ...
, several convents, and
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
residence. The district,
Vieux Lyon
The Vieux Lyon ( en, Old Lyon) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1964, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an ar ...
, also hosts the
Tour métallique (a highly visible TV tower, replicating the last stage of 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 "'' ...
) and one of the city's railways. Fourvière, along with portions of the Presqu'île and much of La Croix-Rousse, is designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
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 h ...
.
East of the Rhône from the Presqu'île is a large flat area upon which sits much of modern Lyon and contains most of the city's population. Situated in this area is
La Part-Dieu
Part-Dieu () is an area of Lyon Metropolis. It is also the second largest tertiary district in France, after La Défense in Greater Paris, with over 1,150,000 m2 of office and service space, along with 45,000 service sector jobs, 2,500 compani ...
urban centre, which clusters the landmark structures
Tour Incity
The Tour Incity is a skyscraper office in Lyon, France. The building was completed in 2015 in the business district of La Part-Dieu, at the intersection of the Cours Lafayette (main entrance) and Garibaldi Street to replace the obsolete UAP tower ...
,
Tour Part-Dieu
The Tour Part-Dieu (formerly Tour du Crédit Lyonnais, or colloquially Le Crayon, or The Pencil) is a skyscraper in Lyon, France. The building is tall, in La Part-Dieu district, with 42 floors. The building was completed in 1977. It currently s ...
,
Tour Oxygène
The Tour Oxygène (Oxygen Tower in English) is a skyscraper which rises 28 levels in the district of La Part-Dieu in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, France. It forms part of the Oxygen Project, which includes the office tower and a shopping cente ...
, and
Tour Swiss Life
The Tour Swiss Life is a skyscraper of offices located in La Part-Dieu quarter, in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon. This 82-metre tower was built in 1989 , as well as the city's primary railway station,
Gare de Lyon-Part-Dieu
Gare de la Part-Dieu (literally "Property of God" railway station) is the primary railway station of Lyon's Central Business District in France. It belongs to the Paris-Lyon-Marseille railway. Train services are mainly operated by SNCF with f ...
.
North of this district lays the sixth
arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
, which is home to one of Europe's largest urban parks, the
Parc de la Tête d'or
The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...
, as well as
Lycée du Parc
The Lycée du Parc is a public secondary school located in the sixth ''Arrondissements of Lyon, arrondissement'' of Lyon, France. Its name comes from the Parc de la Tête d'Or, one of Europe's largest urban parks, which is situated nearby.
It pro ...
and
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
's world headquarters.
Climate
Lyon has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfa''), bordering on an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Cfb'') due to the higher average temperature being around 22 °C. But in modified classifications such as that of
Trewartha
Trewartha and Andrewartha are Cornish family names (and placename, Dexter). There are places called Trewartha in the parishes of Merther, St Agnes, St Neot and Veryan.
According to the ''Handbook of Cornish Names'' by G. Pawley White, "Trew ...
,
France's third largest city has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Do''). The mean temperature in Lyon in the coldest month is in January and in the warmest month in July is . Precipitation is adequate year-round, at an average of , but the winter months are the driest. The highest recorded temperature was on 13 August 2003 while the lowest recorded temperature was on 22 December 1938.
Administration
Commune
![Arrondissements de Lyon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Arrondissements_de_Lyon.svg)
Like Paris and
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 Franc ...
, the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
(municipality) of Lyon is divided into a number of
municipal arrondissements, each of which is identified by a number and has its own council and town hall. Five arrondissements were originally created in 1852, when three
neighbouring communes (La Croix-Rousse, La Guillotière, and Vaise) were annexed by Lyon. Between 1867 and 1959, the third arrondissement (which originally covered the whole of the Left Bank of the
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
) was split three times, creating a new arrondissement in each case. Then, in 1963, the commune of Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe was annexed to Lyon's fifth arrondissement. A year later, in 1964, the fifth was split to create Lyon's 9th – and, to date, final – arrondissement. Within each arrondissement, the recognisable ''quartiers'' or neighbourhoods are:
*
1st arrondissement: Slopes of
La Croix-Rousse
La Croix-Rousse is a hill high in the city of Lyon, France, as well as the name of a neighborhood located on this hill. The neighborhood is divided into les pentes (slopes, belonging to the city's 1st arrondissement) and le plateau (atop the hil ...
,
Terreaux, Martinière/St-Vincent
*
2nd arrondissement:
Cordeliers
The Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Société des Amis des droits de l'homme et du citoyen), mainly known as Cordeliers Club (french: Club des Cordeliers), was a populist political club during the French R ...
,
Bellecour,
Ainay
Ainay is an area within the Presqu'ile district in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, to the south of Place Bellecour and the north of Perrache. It is best known for its Romanesque church, the Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay. A high-class area, b ...
,
Perrache, Confluence, Sainte-Blandine
*
3rd arrondissement: Guillotière (north), Préfecture,
Part-Dieu
Part-Dieu () is an area of Lyon Metropolis. It is also the second largest tertiary district in France, after La Défense in Greater Paris, with over 1,150,000 m2 of office and service space, along with 45,000 service sector jobs, 2,500 compan ...
, Villette, Dauphiné/Sans Souci, Montchat, Grange Blanche (north), Monplaisir (north)
*
4th arrondissement: Plateau de
la Croix-Rousse
La Croix-Rousse is a hill high in the city of Lyon, France, as well as the name of a neighborhood located on this hill. The neighborhood is divided into les pentes (slopes, belonging to the city's 1st arrondissement) and le plateau (atop the hil ...
, Serin
*
5th arrondissement:
Vieux Lyon
The Vieux Lyon ( en, Old Lyon) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1964, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an ar ...
(
Saint-Paul,
Saint-Jean,
Saint-Georges),
Saint-Just
Saint-Just, Saint-Juste, St-Juste, or St Just may refer to:
Music
* ''Saint Just'' (album)
*Saint Just (band), an Italian progressive rock band
Places
France
* Saint-Just (Lyon), a section of the city of Lyon
* Saint-Just, Ain, in the Ain ' ...
, Saint-Irénée,
Fourvière
Fourvière () is a district of Lyon, France, a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising from the river Saône. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum in 43 BC. The district contains many religious buildings i ...
, Point du Jour, Ménival, Battières, Champvert (south)
*
6th arrondissement
The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''.
The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...
:
Brotteaux
Brotteaux is a neighborhood in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. It is situated between the Rhône and the track railway which leads to the Gare de la Part-Dieu. The urbanization of this area began in the late eighteenth century under the leadership ...
, Bellecombe,
Parc de la Tête d'or
The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...
, Cité Internationale
*
7th arrondissement: Guillotière (south), Jean Macé, Gerland
*
8th arrondissement: Monplaisir (south),
Bachut Le Bachut is a quarter in the 8th arrondissement of Lyon.
It is bisected the avenue Berthelot and rue Marius Berliet. Served by the tram, it is connected to the Presqu'île, to the Hôpital Édouard-Herriot and the university campus of Bron. In Ma ...
, États-Unis, Grand Trou/Moulin à Vent, Grange Blanche (south),
Laënnec Laënnec is a quarter of the 8th arrondissement of Lyon, in France. It is served by the eponymous station of the Line D of the Lyon Metro, which was opened on 11 December 1992 and had 132,316 passengers per month in 2006.Laënnec statioFerro-lyon.n ...
, Mermoz, Monplaisir-la-Plaine
*
9th arrondissement:
Vaise
Vaise is a neighborhood of the City of Lyon (France), located along the 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 jo ...
, Duchère, Rochecardon, St-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe, Gorge de Loup, Observance, Champvert (north)
Geographically, Lyon's two main rivers, the Saône and the Rhône, divide the arrondissements into three groups:
* To the west of the Saône, the fifth arrondissement covers the old city of Vieux Lyon, Fourvière hill and the plateau beyond. The 9th is immediately to the north, and stretches from Gorge de Loup, through Vaise to the neighbouring suburbs of Écully, Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or, Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or, Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or and Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or.
* Between the two rivers, on the
Presqu'île
The Presqu'île (literally a combination of the French words "presque" and "île" for almost and island, respectively)''Le petit Robert de la langue française'' 2007 is the central part of the City of Lyon, France. Extending from the foot of th ...
, are the second, first, and fourth arrondissements. The second includes most of the city centre, Bellecour and Perrache railway station, and reaches as far as the confluence of the two rivers. The first is directly to the north of the second and covers part of the city centre (including the
Hôtel de Ville) and the slopes of La Croix-Rousse. To the north of the Boulevard is the fourth arrondissement, which covers the Plateau of La Croix-Rousse, up to its boundary with the commune of Caluire-et-Cuire.
* To the east of the Rhône, are the third, sixth, seventh, and eighth arrondissements.
Mayors
This is a list of mayors of the commune of Lyon since the end of the 19th century.
Metropolis
![Circonscriptions Métropole Lyon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Circonscriptions_M%C3%A9tropole_Lyon.svg)
Since 2015, the commune of Lyon ( in land area) and 58 suburban communes have formed the
Metropolis of Lyon
The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing t ...
( in land area), a directly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of most urban issues. The Metropolis of Lyon is the only metropolitan authority in France which is a
territorial collectivity
A territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale, previously '), or territorial authority, is a chartered subdivision of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision (subnational entity) wit ...
, on par with French
communes
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
and
departments. Its metropolitan council was for the first time directly elected by
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
in 2020 within 14 electoral wards, the only directly elected metropolitan council in France.
The 14 electoral wards are the following (see map for location):
The six wards with names starting with "Lyon" are all located within the commune of Lyon. The
Villeurbanne
Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after tha ...
ward is coterminous with the namesake commune. All other seven wards each group various suburban communes.
The division of the Metropolis of Lyon in large electoral wards often grouping various communes and dividing the commune of Lyon into six wards was criticized by the suburban mayors, as it ended the rule of 'one commune, one metropolitan councilor'. The goal of this electoral division of the metropolis was to focus metropolitan elections more on metropolitan issues than parochial communal issues, and ensure the 'one person, one vote' rule be respected, by creating electoral wards of more homogeneous population sizes. Opponents said it diluted the voice of the small suburban communes, which are now part of large electoral wards and do not each possess a representative in the metropolitan council anymore.
Presidents of the Metropolitan Council
The two first presidents of the Metropolis of Lyon's metropolitan council were chosen by indirectly elected metropolitan councilors. The current president since July 2020 was elected by new metropolitan councilors following their election by
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
in March (1st round) and June (2nd round) 2020, the first direct election of a metropolitan council in France.
Main sights
Antiquity
* The Roman ruins on the hillside near the Fourvière Basilica, with the
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 Si ...
, the
Odeon of Lyon
The Odeon of Lyon (french: Odéon antique de Lyon) is a small ancient Roman theatre (an odeon) near the summit of the Fourvière hill in Lyon, France. It forms a pair with the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière, one of only two such pairs in Gaul ( ...
and the accompanying
Gallo-Roman museum
*
Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls
The Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls (french: Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules) of Lugdunum (Lyon) was part of the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls dedicated to the cult of Rome and Augustus celebrated by the 60 Gallic tribes when they gathered at Lugdun ...
– ruins of a Roman amphitheatre.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
*
Cathedral of St. John, a medieval church with architectural elements of the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, also the principal religious structure in the city and the seat of the
Archbishop of Lyon
The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...
*
Basilica of St-Martin-d'Ainay, one of the rare surviving Romanesque basilica-style churches in Lyon
*
Église Saint-Paul
The Église Saint-Paul is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in Lyon, France. It is situated in the Vieux Lyon, in the Saint-Paul (Lyon), Saint-Paul quarter, in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon. The cathedral is in the Romanesque a ...
, Romanesque (12th and 13th century) and Gothic (15th–16th century) church
*
Église Saint-Bonaventure
The Église Saint-Bonaventure is one of the churches of the quarter Presqu'île, located on the Place des Cordeliers, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. This is the only medieval building not demolished after the creation of the rue Impériale ( ...
, 14th- and 15th-century Gothic church
*
Église Saint-Nizier
The Church of Saint-Nizier (French: ''Église Saint-Nizier'') is a church in the Presqu'île district of Lyon, France, in the 2nd arrondissement, between the Place des Terreaux and the Place des Jacobins. Its name refers to Nicetius of Lyon, a bi ...
, Gothic church from the 15th century, having a doorway carved in the 16th century by
Philibert Delorme
Philibert de l'Orme () (3-9 June 1514 – 8 January 1570) was a French architect and writer, and one of the great masters of French Renaissance architecture. His surname is also written De l'Orme, de L'Orme, or Delorme.
Biography
Early care ...
*
Vieux Lyon
The Vieux Lyon ( en, Old Lyon) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1964, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an ar ...
(English: Old Lyon) area, Medieval and Renaissance quarter of the town, with shops, dining and cobbled streets
* The many Renaissance ''
hôtels particuliers'' of the Old Lyon quarter, such as the ''Hôtel de Bullioud'', were also built by Philibert Delorme
17th and 18th centuries
*
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
on the
Place des Terreaux
The Place des Terreaux is a square located in the centre of Lyon, France, on the Presqu'île between the Rhône and the Saône rivers, at the foot of the hill of La Croix-Rousse in the 1st arrondissement. It borders both the Hôtel de Ville and ...
, built by architects
Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand T ...
and
Robert de Cotte
Robert de Cotte (1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of Jules Hard ...
*
Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon) is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. Located near the Place des Terreaux, it is housed in a former Benedictine convent which was active during the 1 ...
, fine arts museum housed in a former convent of the 17th century, including the Baroque ''chapelle Saint-Pierre''
*
Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon
Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon was a hospital of historical significance situated on the west bank of the Rhone river, on the Presqu'île (the Peninsula between the Saône and Rhone rivers which run through the city center). It has been out of use since 2010 ...
(17th and 18th century), historical hospital with a baroque chapel
*
Temple du Change
The Temple du Change or Loge du Change, formerly used for the stock exchange of Lyon, stands in Vieux Lyon (5th arrondissement of Lyon). It was originally built after plans by architect Simon Gourdet between 1631 and 1653, then rebuilt under the d ...
(17th and 18th century), former stock exchange of Lyon, Protestant temple since the 18th century
*
Place Bellecour
Place Bellecour is a large square in the centre of Lyon, France, to the north of the Ainay district. Measuring 312 m by 200 m (62,000 m² or 15 acres), it is one of the largest open squares (without any patches of greenery or trees) in ...
, one of the largest town squares in Europe
*
Chapelle de la Trinité
The Chapelle de la Trinité is a Roman Catholic chapel located at 29-31 rue de la Bourse, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, France. It is the first church in baroque style built in Lyon and is classified as historic monument.
History
It is create ...
(1622), the first Baroque chapel built in Lyon, and part of the former École de la Trinité, now
Collège-lycée Ampère
The Collège-lycée Ampère is a famous school located in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon.
History
It was founded in 1519 by members of the Brotherhood of the Trinity. It was then known under the name of Collège de la Trinité. Under this name it ...
*
Église Saint-Polycarpe
The Église Saint-Polycarpe (Church of St. Polycarp) is a Roman Catholic church located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse, between rue René Leynaud, rue Burdeau and passages Mermet and Passage Thiaffait, Thiaffai ...
(1665–1670), Classical church
* Église Saint-Just (16th to 18th century), Classical church
*
Saint-Bruno des Chartreux
The Church of Saint-Bruno des Chartreux (french: Église Saint-Bruno des Chartreux, or the ''Church of Saint Bruno of the Carthusians'') is a Roman Catholic church located in Lyon, France. Until the French Revolution, it was the church of Lyon Ch ...
(17th and 18th century), church, masterpiece of Baroque architecture
*
Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent
The Église Notre Dame Saint-Vincent is a Roman Catholic Church architecture, church located in Lyon, on the banks of the Saône, quai Saint-Vincent, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon. In 1984, it was classified as monument historique.
History
The ...
(18th century), Neo-classical church
19th century and modern city
*
Opéra Nouvel
The Opéra Nouvel (Nouvel Opera House) in Lyon, France, is the home of the Opéra National de Lyon. The original opera house was re-designed by the distinguished French architect, Jean Nouvel between 1985 and 1993 in association with the agency of ...
(1831), renovated in 1993 by
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...
*
Théâtre des Célestins
The Théâtre des Célestins is a theatre building on Place des Célestins in Lyon, France. It was designed by Gaspard André, and inaugurated in 1877, then in 2005. Alongside the Comédie-Française and the théâtre de l'Odéon, it is one of fe ...
(1877), designed by
Gaspard André
Gaspard André (16 March 1840 in Lyon - 12 February 1896 in Cannes) was a French architect, best known as the designer of the Theater of the Place des Célestins, the Fountain of the Place des Jacobins and the Grand Temple de Lyon in Lyon, the ci ...
*
Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière (french: Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière) is a minor basilica in Lyon, France. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominant position overlooking the city. The site it occupies was ...
, large 19th-century basilica on the top of Fourvière Hill
*
Tour métallique de Fourvière
Tour or Tours may refer to:
Travel
* Tourism, travel for pleasure
* Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service
* Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus
* Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...
(1894)
* ''La Mouche'' Cattle Market and Abattoir (1914, 1928), designed by
Tony Garnier
*
Sainte Marie de La Tourette
Sainte Marie de La Tourette is a Dominican Order priory, located on a hillside near Lyon, France, designed by the architect Le Corbusier, the architect’s final building. The design of the building began in May 1953 and completed in 1961. The comm ...
monastery (1960) designed by
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
*
Saint-Exupéry International Airport Saint-Exupéry may refer to:
People
* Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviation pioneer and writer, author of ''The Little Prince''
* Consuelo de Saint Exupéry, writer, artist, and wife of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
* Marie-Madeleine de Saint-Exupéry (1 ...
(formerly Satolas Airport), designed by
Guillaume Gilbert Guillaume may refer to:
People
* Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William
* Guillaume (surname)
Other uses
* Guillaume (crater)
See also
* '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem
* Guillaume affair, a Cold War espi ...
*
Gare de Lyon Saint-Exupéry Gare is the word for "station" in French and related languages, commonly meaning railway station
Gare can refer to:
People
* Gare (surname), surname
* The Gare Family, fictional characters in the novel '' Wild Geese'' by Martha Ostenso
Places
* ...
(1994) by
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculpt ...
*
Palais des congrès de Lyon
The Palais des Congrès de Lyon (or "Cité des Congrès de Lyon" or "Centre de Congrès de Lyon") is a convention hall which is part of the Cité Internationale, a newly built district of Lyon, France.
Overview
The building was designed by ar ...
(1998), designed by
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...
and a group of buildings for various functions
*
Tour du Crédit Lyonnais
The Tour Part-Dieu (formerly Tour du Crédit Lyonnais, or colloquially Le Crayon, or The Pencil) is a skyscraper in Lyon, France. The building is tall, in La Part-Dieu district, with 42 floors. The building was completed in 1977. It currently ...
*
Tour Oxygène
The Tour Oxygène (Oxygen Tower in English) is a skyscraper which rises 28 levels in the district of La Part-Dieu in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, France. It forms part of the Oxygen Project, which includes the office tower and a shopping cente ...
*
Tour Incity
The Tour Incity is a skyscraper office in Lyon, France. The building was completed in 2015 in the business district of La Part-Dieu, at the intersection of the Cours Lafayette (main entrance) and Garibaldi Street to replace the obsolete UAP tower ...
Museums
![20151106_lyon260](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/20151106_lyon260.jpg)
*
Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon) is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. Located near the Place des Terreaux, it is housed in a former Benedictine convent which was active during the 1 ...
(''Fine Arts Museum''), main museum of the city and one of the larger art galleries in France. Housed in the Palais Saint Pierre, a former 17th-century convent, it displays a major collection of paintings by artists (including
Tintoretto
Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...
;
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...
;
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
;
Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
;
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
;
Zurbaran;
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ...
;
Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross").
It may refer to:
People
* Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium
* Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...
;
Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
;
Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetism, Synthetist style that were d ...
;
Van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...
;
Cézanne;
Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
;
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
;
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
...); collections of sculptures, drawings and printings, decorative arts, Roman and Greek antiquities; the second largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in France after that of the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
; and a medal cabinet of 50.000 medals and coins.
* The
Gallo-Roman Museum displaying many valuable objects and artworks found on the site of Roman Lyon (Lugdunum) such as
Circus Games Mosaic
The Circus Games Mosaic is a 2nd-century Roman mosaic depicting a chariot race in quadrigas.Anne-Catherine Le Mer, Claire Chomer, Carte archéologique de la Gaule, Lyon 69/2, p. 401 It was discovered in 1806 in the Ainay district of Lyon (ancient L ...
,
Coligny calendar
The Coligny calendar is a second century Celtic calendar found in 1897 in Coligny, France. It is a lunisolar calendar with a five-year cycle of 62 months. It has been used to reconstruct the ancient Celtic calendar. The letters on the cale ...
and the
Taurobolic Altar
*
Centre d'histoire de la résistance et de la déportation
The Centre d'histoire de la résistance et de la déportation ( en, Center for the History of the Resistance and Deportation) is a museum in Lyon, France. Located on the former site of a French military health school (École de Santé Militaire) a ...
*
Musée des Confluences
The Musée des Confluences is a science centre and anthropology museum which opened on 20 December 2014 in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, (Rhône), France. It is located at the southern tip of the Presqu'île at the confluence of the Rhône and t ...
, new museum of sciences and anthropology, which opened its doors on 20 December 2014
*
La Sucrière
La Sucrière is a famous building devoted to contemporary art, situated 48 Quai Rambaud, on the banks of the Saône in the Confluence quarter of the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon
The 2nd arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of t ...
, contemporary art centre
*
Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon
Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon was a hospital of historical significance situated on the west bank of the Rhone river, on the Presqu'île (the Peninsula between the Saône and Rhone rivers which run through the city center). It has been out of use since 2010 ...
houses the "Musée des Hospices Civils", a permanent exhibit tracing the history and practice of medicine from the Middle Ages to modern times
*
Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs, decorative arts and textile museum, which is one of the world's larger textile collections with 2.5 million works
* Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, contemporary art museum
* Musée de L'imprimerie, printing museum
*
Musée Gadagne
The Musée Gadagne is a museum located in the center of the Vieux Lyon, in the Saint-Jean quarter, in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon. It is composed of the Musée d'Histoire de Lyon (Museum of Lyon History) and the Musée des Marionnettes du monde ...
, museum of the history of Lyon housed in a historic building in Vieux Lyon, which includes a large collection of marionettes
*
Musée des Automates, museum of automated puppets in Vieux Lyon, open since 1991
*
Musée Miniature & Cinéma, museum featuring miniature movie sets, movie props, and special effects
Parks and gardens
![Parc de la Tête d'Or Vue sur le lac7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Parc_de_la_T%C3%AAte_d%27Or_Vue_sur_le_lac7.jpg)
*
Parc de la Tête d'or
The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...
, aka Golden Head Park, in central Lyon is the largest urban park in France at . Located in the 6th arrondissement, it features a large lake on which boating takes place during the summer months.
*
Jardin botanique de Lyon
The Jardin botanique de Lyon (English: Botanical Garden of Lyon), also known as the Jardin botanique du Parc de la Tête d'Or (Botanical Garden of the Golden Head), is an municipal botanical garden located in the Parc de la Tête d'or in the 6th ...
(), included in the
Parc de la Tête d'Or
The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...
, is a municipal botanical garden and is open weekdays without charge. The garden was established in 1857 as a successor to earlier botanical gardens dating to 1796, and now describes itself as France's largest municipal botanical garden.
*
Parc de Gerland
, previously () and also called , is a large greenspace in Lyon situated on a former industrial site in the south of the city near the confluence of the Rhône and the Saone. Construction began in 1996, and the park was developed over an ar ...
, in the south of the city ()
*
Parc des hauteurs
Parc des Hauteurs () is an urban park on Fourvière hill in Lyon, France. It encompasses the public spaces between the basilique de Fourvière and Loyasse cemetery.
History
Throughout the 20th century, urban planning documents mention vario ...
, in Fourvières
*
Parc de Miribel-Jonage
The Grand parc de Miribel-Jonage is an urban park covering almost 2,200 hectares on the outskirts of Lyon. It covers most of the Island of Miribel-Jonage on the Rhône. This island was created in the 19th century with the digging of the Miribel an ...
()
*
Parc de Lacroix-Laval
Parc de Lacroix-Laval or Domaine de Lacroix-Laval is a park in the commune of Marcy-l'Étoile, Lyon Metropolis, France. Opened to the public in 1985 it lies entirely within the limits of Marcy-l'Étoile but borders the communes of Charbonniè ...
()
*
Parc de Parilly
Parc de Parilly is an urban park in the communes of Bron and Vénissieux, Lyon Metropolis. Created in 1937, the park encompasses an area of . The park includes numerous sport facilities, including a running track, a hippodrome, and basketball co ...
()
Economy
![La Part-Dieu depuis Saint-Paul](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/La_Part-Dieu_depuis_Saint-Paul.JPG)
The GDP of Lyon was 74 billion euro in 2012,
making it the second richest city in France after Paris. Lyon and its region
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
represent one of the most important economies in Europe and, according to Loughborough University, can be compared to Philadelphia, Mumbai or Athens with regard to its international position. The city of Lyon is working in partnership to more easily enable the establishment of new headquarters in the territory (ADERLY,
Chambre du commerce et d'industrie,
Grand Lyon
The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing t ...
...). High-tech industries such as biotechnology, software development, video game (
Arkane Studios
Arkane Studios SASU is a French video game developer based in Lyon. It was founded in 1999, and released its first game, ''Arx Fatalis'', in 2002. Besides the Lyon studio, Arkane Lyon, Arkane Studios operates Arkane Studios LLC (trade name, tra ...
,
Ivory Tower
An ivory tower is a metaphorical place—or an atmosphere—where people are happily cut off from the rest of the world in favor of their own pursuits, usually mental and esoteric ones. From the 19th century, it has been used to designate an e ...
,
Eden Games
Eden Games (formerly known as Eden Studios) is a French video game developer based in Lyon, France, that mainly focuses on the development of racing video games.
History
The company was formed as a development group within Infogrames' European ...
,
EA France
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe), and internet services are also growing. Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities. Lyon is home to the P4-Inserm–ean Merieux Laboratory which conducts top-level vaccine research.
The city is home to the headquarters of many large companies such as
Groupe SEB
Groupe SEB (''Société d'Emboutissage de Bourgogne'') is a large French consortium that produces small appliances, and it is the world's largest manufacturer of cookware. Notable brand names associated with Groupe SEB include All-Clad, IMUSA , ...
,
Sanofi Pasteur
Sanofi Pasteur is the vaccines division of the French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi. Sanofi Pasteur is the largest company in the world devoted entirely to vaccines. It is one of four global producers of the yellow fever vaccine.
...
,
Renault Trucks
Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001.
From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the comp ...
,
Norbert Dentressangle
Norbert Dentressangle () was a major European transport, logistics and freight forwarder. It was founded in 1979, initially concentrating on cross channel transport between France and the United Kingdom.
In December 2007, Norbert Dentressangle do ...
,
LCL S.A.
LCL S.A. is a major France, French banking network that is part of the Crédit Agricole group, with registered office in Lyon and administrative head office in Paris, France. It was established in 2005 from its predecessor the Crédit Lyonnais, a ...
,
Descours & Cabaud,
Merial
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is a multinational animal health company, formed in January 2017 when Merial was acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim and merged with Boehringer Ingelheim's existing animal health assets.
Overview
In August 1997, ...
,
Point S
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Point ...
,
BioMérieux
bioMérieux SA is a French multinational biotechnology company founded and headquartered in Marcy-l'Étoile, France, close to Lyon. bioMérieux is present in 44 countries and serves more than 160 countries through a large network of distributors ...
,
Iveco Bus
IVECO Bus (formerly Irisbus) is a bus manufacturer with headquarters in Turin. IVECO Bus is now only a brand division of IVECO which is a company incorporated under Dutch law and listed on Borsa Italiana.
History IVECO (1975 - 1999)
In 1975 F ...
,
Compagnie Nationale du Rhône
The Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) is a French electricity generation company, mainly supplying renewable power from hydroelectric facilities on the Rhone.
Operations
Established in 1933, as of 2009 the company derives most of its power fr ...
,
GL Events
GL events is a French entertainment and medium enterprise founded in 1978, under the name of Polygones Services, by Olivier Ginon and three of his friends, Olivier Roux, Gilles Gouédard-Comte and Jacques Danger. It has been listed on the Paris ...
,
April Group
April Group is a French insurance company, headquartered in Lyon, France
History
Bruno Rousset and Xavier Coquard co-founded the insurance broker April Assurances. In 1988, the company had fifteen employees. The growth of the company was fi ...
,
Boiron
Boiron () is a manufacturer of homeopathic products, headquartered in France and with an operating presence in 59 countries worldwide. It is the largest manufacturer of homeopathic products in the world. In 2004, it employed a workforce of 2,779 a ...
, Feu Vert,
Panzani
Panzani is a French brand of pasta. Since 2005, it has been a subsidiary of Ebro Foods.
Overview
The brand was started by Jean Panzani in Parthenay in 1950. In the 1950s, he sold pasta in cellophane whereas other companies used cardboard. From 1 ...
,
Babolat
Babolat is a French tennis, badminton, and padel equipment company, headquartered in Lyon, best known for its strings and tennis racquets which are used by professional and recreational players worldwide. The company has made strings since 1875 ...
,
Euronews
Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective.
The majority of Eurone ...
,
Lyon Airports, LVL Medical, and inter-governmental agencies
IARC IARC may refer to:
* International Aerial Robotics Competition
* International Age Rating Coalition
* International Agency for Research on Cancer
* International Arctic Research Center
* Israel Amateur Radio Club
The Israel Amateur Radio Club (IA ...
,
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
.
The specialisation of some sectors of activities has led to the creation of many main business centres:
La Part-Dieu
Part-Dieu () is an area of Lyon Metropolis. It is also the second largest tertiary district in France, after La Défense in Greater Paris, with over 1,150,000 m2 of office and service space, along with 45,000 service sector jobs, 2,500 compani ...
, located in the 3rd arrondissement is the second biggest business quarter after
La Défense
La Défense () is a major business district in France, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, ...
in Paris with over of office space and services and more than 55,000 jobs. ''Cité Internationale'', created by the architect
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...
is located in the border of the
Parc de la Tête d'Or
The Parc de la Tête d'or (English: "Park of the Golden Head") is a large urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of the 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardin botanique de Lyon, as well as a l ...
in the 6th arrondissement. The worldwide headquarters of
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
is located there. The district of ''Confluence'', in the south of the historic centre, is a new pole of economical and cultural development.
Tourism is an important part of the Lyon economy, with one billion euros in 2007 and 3.5 million hotel-nights in 2006 provided by non-residents. Approximately 60% of tourists visit for business, with the rest for leisure. In January 2009, Lyon ranked first in France for hostels business. The festivals most important for attracting tourists are the ''
Fête des lumières
The Festival of Lights (french: Fête des lumières) in Lyon, France, is a popular event that originally aimed at expressing gratitude toward Mary, mother of Jesus around December 8 of each year. This unique Lyonnaise tradition dictates that every ...
'', the ''
Nuits de Fourvière
The Nuits de Fourvière (Nights of Fourvière) is a festival with theater, circus, music, dance, and film presentations. The festival has taken place every summer since 1946 in the Théâtre antique de Fourvière, and in the Odéon de Lyon ( ...
'' every summer, the ''Biennale d'art contemporain'' and the ''
Nuits Sonores
Nuits Sonores is an electronic music festival based at Lyon in France. It usually occurs for five days in May. It has been held since 2003.
Gallery
Nuits sonores 2008.jpg
Itsy Bitsy (Bandesalo).jpg
Jours Sonores.jpg
Greco Roman Soundsystem.jpg
...
''.
Culture
Since the Middle Ages, the region residents have spoken several dialects of
Franco-Provençal
Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy.
Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...
. The
Lyonnais
The Lyonnais () is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon.
The geographical area known as the ''Lyonnais'' became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire. The disintegratio ...
dialect was replaced by the French language as the importance of the city grew. However some "frenchified" Franco-Provençal words can also be heard in the French of the Lyonnais, who call their little boys and girls "gones" and "fenottes" for example.
[Jean-Baptiste Onofrio : ''Essai d'un glossaire des patois de Lyonnais, Forez et Beaujolais'', Lyon 1864]
* The
Lumière brothers
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
*Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People
*Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV
* Institut Lumière, a ...
pioneered cinema in the town in 1895. The
Institut Lumière
The Institut Lumière (; "Lumière Institute") is a French organisation, based in Lyon, for the promotion and preservation of aspects of French film making. The Institut Lumière is a museum that honours the contribution to filmmaking by Auguste ...
, built as Auguste Lumiere's house, and a fascinating piece of architecture in its own right, holds many of their first inventions and other early cinematic and photographic artifacts.
* 8 December each year is marked by the
Festival of Lights (la Fête des lumières), a celebration of thanks to 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 o ...
, who purportedly saved the city from a deadly plague in the Middle Ages. During the event, the local population places candles (''luminions'') at their windows and the city of Lyon organizes impressive large-scale light shows onto the sides of important Lyonnais monuments, such as the medieval Cathédrale St-Jean.
* The
Saint Francis of Sales
Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...
church is famous for its large and unaltered
Cavaillé-Coll pipe organ, attracting audiences from around the world.
* The
Opéra Nouvel
The Opéra Nouvel (Nouvel Opera House) in Lyon, France, is the home of the Opéra National de Lyon. The original opera house was re-designed by the distinguished French architect, Jean Nouvel between 1985 and 1993 in association with the agency of ...
(New Opera House) is the home of the
Opéra National de Lyon
The Opéra National de Lyon, marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993.
The inaugu ...
. The original opera house was re-designed by the distinguished French architect Jean Nouvel between 1985 and 1993 and is named after him.
* Lyon is also the French capital of "''
trompe l'œil''" walls, a very ancient tradition. Many are to be seen around the city. This old tradition is now finding a contemporary expression, for example in the art of Guillaume Bottazzi.
* The
Brothers of the Sacred Heart
The Brothers of the Sacred Heart ( la, Fratres a Sacratissimo Corde Iesu) is a Catholic lay religious congregation of Pontifical Right for Men founded by the Reverend Fr. André Coindre (1787–1826) in 1821. Its Constitution was modeled upon that ...
, a Roman Catholic congregation that operates schools in Europe and North America, was founded in Lyon in 1821.
* The
African Museum of Lyon is one of the oldest museums situated in Lyon.
* The Museum of Resistance and Deportation looks at the various individuals prominent in the Resistance movement in World War II. The building is strongly linked to
Klaus Barbie
Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primari ...
. Lyon sees itself as the centre of the French resistance and many members were shot in Place Bellecour in the town centre. The exhibition is largely a series of mini-biographies of those involved.
* Lyon is a pilot city of the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
and the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
Intercultural cities
Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communi ...
program.
UNESCO World Heritage site
![Lyon - Jalousies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Lyon_-_Jalousies.jpg)
The historic site of Lyon was designated a
UNESCO World Heritage site
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 h ...
in 1998. In its designation, UNESCO cited the "exceptional testimony to the continuity of urban settlement over more than two millennia on a site of great commercial and strategic significance."
The specific regions comprising the historic site include the Roman district and Fourvière, the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
district (Vieux Lyon), the silk district (slopes of Croix-Rousse), and the Presqu'île, which features architecture from the 12th century to modern times.
Both Vieux Lyon and the slopes of Croix-Rousse are known for their narrow passageways (named ''
traboule
Traboules (from Latin ''transambulare'' via vulgar Latin ''trabulare'' meaning "to cross") are a type of secret covered passageways primarily associated with the city of Lyon, France, but also located in the French cities of Villefranche-sur-Saô ...
s'') that pass through buildings and link streets on either side. The first examples of traboules are thought to have been built in Lyon in the 4th century. The traboules allowed the inhabitants to get from their homes to the
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 deri ...
quickly and allowed the canuts on the Croix-Rousse hill to get from their workshops to the textile merchants at the foot of the hill.
Gastronomy
![Potatoes lyonnaise](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Potatoes_lyonnaise.JPG)
Lyon has a long and chronicled culinary arts tradition. The noted food critic
Curnonsky
Maurice Edmond Sailland (October 12, 1872, Angers, France – July 22, 1956, Paris), better known by his pen-name Curnonsky (nicknamed 'Cur'), and dubbed the Prince of Gastronomy, was one of the most celebrated writers on gastronomy in Franc ...
referred to the city as "the gastronomic capital of the world", a claim repeated by later writers such as
Bill Buford
Bill Buford (born 1954) is an American author and journalist. Buford is the author of the books ''Among the Thugs'' and ''Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscan ...
. Renowned 3-star Michelin chefs such as
Marie Bourgeois and
Eugénie Brazier
Eugénie Brazier (12 June 1895 – 2 March 1977), known as "la Mère Brazier", was a French chef who, in 1933, became the first person awarded six Michelin stars, three each at two restaurants: La Mère Brazier in the rue Royale, one of the ma ...
developed Lyonnaise cuisine into a national phenomenon favoured by the French elite; a tradition which
Paul Bocuse
Paul Bocuse (; 11 February 1926 – 20 January 2018) was a French chef based in Lyon who was known for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine.
A student of Eugénie Brazier, he was one of the most prominen ...
later turned into a worldwide success.
The ''
bouchon
A bouchon is a type of restaurant found in Lyon, France, that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, coq-au-vin, "salade lyonnaise" duck pâté or roast pork. Compared to other forms of French cooking such as ''nouvelle cuisi ...
'' is a traditional Lyonnais restaurant that serves local fare such as sausages, duck pâté or roast pork, along with local wines. Two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near the city: the
Beaujolais
Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which mak ...
region to the north and the
Côtes du Rhône region to the south. Another Lyon tradition is a type of
brunch
Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of ''breakfast'' a ...
food called "mâchons", made of local
charcuterie
Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''balloti ...
and usually accompanied by Beaujolais red wine. Mâchons were the customary meal of the
canut
The canuts () were Lyonnais silk workers, often working on Jacquard looms. They were primarily found in the Croix-Rousse neighbourhood of Lyon in the 19th century. Although the term generally refers to Lyonnais silk workers, silk workers in the ...
s, the city's silk workers, who ate a late-morning meal after they finished their shifts in the factories.
Other traditional local dishes include
coq au vin
''Coq au vin'' (; , "rooster/cock with wine") is a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic.
A red Burgundy wine is typically used, though many regions of France make variants using local wines, such ...
;
quenelle __NOTOC__
A quenelle () is a mixture of creamed fish or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding, formed into an egg-like shape, and then cooked. The usual preparation is by poaching. Formerly, quenelles were often us ...
;
gras double Gras double is a tripe dish from the Lyonnaise cuisine 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 ...
;
salade lyonnaise
The sallet (also called ''celata,'' ''salade'' and ''schaller'') was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also ...
(lettuce with bacon, croûtons and a poached egg); and the sausage-based
rosette lyonnaise and
andouillette
Andouillette () is a French coarse-grained sausage made from the intestine of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings.
Andouillettes are generally made from the large intestine and are in diameter. True andouillettes are rarely seen outsi ...
. Popular local confections include
marron glacé
A marron glacé (plural ''marrons glacés'') is a confection, originating in northern Italy and southern France consisting of a chestnut candied in sugar syrup and glazed. Marrons glacés are an ingredient in many desserts and are also eaten o ...
and
coussin de Lyon
The coussin de Lyon is a sweet specialty of Lyon, France, composed of chocolate and marzipan and created by Voisin, a French chocolatier. This tidbit is a piece of pale green marzipan, with dark green stripe, filled with a chocolate ganache flav ...
.
Cervelle de canut
Cervelle de canut is a cheese spread or dip that is a specialty of Lyon, France.
The dish is a base of fromage blanc, seasoned with chopped herbs, shallots, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. Its name literally means "silk worker's brain", a ...
(literally, "silk worker's brains") is a cheese spread/dip made of a base of
fromage blanc
''Fromage blanc'' (; ; also known as ''maquée'') is a fresh cheese originating from the north of France and southern Belgium. The name means "white cheese" in French. ''Fromage frais'' ("fresh cheese") differs from ''fromage blanc'' in that, ac ...
, seasoned with chopped herbs, shallots, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar.
More recently, the
french tacos
A French tacos (french: tacos français , or commonly ''tacos'') or matelas (French for "mattress") is a fast food dish which usually consists of a flour tortilla grilled and folded around a filling of French fries, cheese, and meat, among other ...
was invented in Lyon suburbs in the early 2000s and is now worldwide famous.
Sport
![Parc OL](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Parc_OL.jpg)
Lyon is home to the
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...
(OL), whose men's team plays in
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
and has won the championship of that competition seven times, all consecutively from 2002 to 2008). OL played until December 2015 at the 43,000-seat
Stade de Gerland
The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...
, which also hosted matches of the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
. Since 2016, the team has played at the
Parc Olympique Lyonnais
Parc Olympique Lyonnais, known for sponsorship reasons as Groupama Stadium, is a 59,186-seat stadium in Décines-Charpieu, in the Lyon Metropolis. The home of French football club Olympique Lyonnais, it replaced their previous stadium, Stade de ...
, a 59,000-seat stadium located in the eastern suburb of
Décines-Charpieu
Décines-Charpieu (; frp, Dessines) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. The name of the city is often shortened and simply called Décines.
Geography
Décines is located near Grand Large res ...
. OL operates a women's team,
Olympique Lyonnais Féminin
Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (; commonly referred to as Olympique Lyon, Lyon, or simply OL) is a French women's football club based in Lyon. The club has been the female section of Olympique Lyonnais since 2004. It is the most successful club ...
, which competes in and dominates
Division 1 Féminine
The Division 1 Féminine, shortened as D1 Féminine or D1F, and currently known as D1 Arkema for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in France. Run by the French Football Federation, the league is contested by twelv ...
. They won fourteen consecutive top-flight championships (2007–2020), and additionally claim the four titles won by the original incarnation of FC Lyon, a women's football club that merged into OL in 2004 (the current FC Lyon was founded in 2009). The OL women have also won the
UEFA Women's Champions League
The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA.
The ...
eight times, including in five consecutive editions from 2016 to 2020. Lyon hosted the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...
semi-finals as well as the
Final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
on 7 July at
Stade de Lyon.
![Matmut_stadium_de_gerland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Matmut_stadium_de_gerland.jpg)
Lyon has a
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team,
Lyon OU
Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season af ...
, in the
Top 14
The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
, which moved into Stade de Gerland full-time in 2017–18. In addition, Lyon has a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
side called
Lyon Villeurbanne
Lyon Villeurbanne XIII are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Lyon, Rhône-Alpes in France. Formed in 1934 they are one of the oldest clubs in France. During the 1950s they won both the league and cup. They currently play in ...
that plays in the
French rugby league championship
The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s.
...
. The club's home is the
Stade Georges Lyvet
Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
in Villeurbanne.
Lyon is also home to the
Lyon Hockey Club
Lyon Hockey Club Les Lions (LHC The Lions) is the ice hockey team of Lyon, France. The team currently competes in The French FFHG Division 3, Ligue Magnus on 13 January 2014 it was announced they will have a partnership with the Tampa Bay Lighting ...
, an
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team that competes in France's national ice hockey league. The
Patinoire Charlemagne
The Patinoire Charlemagne is an ice rink in Lyon, France, located in the Confluence quarter, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. It hosts many international competitions, such as the European Championships of figure skating, and entertainments and i ...
is the seat of Club des Sports de Glace de Lyon, the club of Olympic
ice dancing
Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...
champions
Marina Anissina
Marina Vyacheslavovna Anissina (russian: Марина Вячеславовна Анисина; born 30 August 1975) is a Franco-Russian ice dancer. Competing with Gwendal Peizerat for France, she is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic ...
and
Gwendal Peizerat
Gwendal Peizerat (born 21 April 1972) is a French former competitive ice dancer. With Marina Anissina, he is the 2002 Olympic champion, the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2000 World champion, and a six-time French national champion.
Pers ...
, and world champions
Isabelle Delobel
Isabelle Delobel (born 17 June 1978) is a French former competitive ice dancer. With partner Olivier Schoenfelder, she is the 2008 World champion, the 2007 European champion, and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion.
Delobel and Schoenfelder r ...
and
Olivier Shoenfelder
Olivier Schoenfelder (born 30 November 1977) is a French retired ice dancing, ice dancer and coach. With partner Isabelle Delobel, he is the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships, 2008 World champion, the 2007 European Figure Skating Championsh ...
. Lyon-Villeurbanne also has a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team,
ASVEL
ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon, ...
, that plays at the
Astroballe
Astroballe, or L'Astroballe is an indoor sports arena that is located in the Cusset neighborhood of Villeurbanne, Lyon, France. The arena is primarily used to host basketball games. The arena has a seating capacity of 5,556.
History
The arena o ...
arena.
Street art
Since 2000,
Birdy Kids Birdy Kids is a French-based street-art artist collective.
Career
Birdy Kids was created in 1989, in Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France wi ...
, a group of graffiti artists from the city, has decorated several random buildings and walls along the Lyon ring road. In 2012, the artist collective was chosen to represent the city as its cultural ambassadors.
Demographics
The population of the city (commune) of Lyon proper was 522,969 at the January 2019 census.
As of 2011, 14% of its population was born outside Metropolitan France.
The city of Lyon and 58 suburban municipalities have formed since 2015 the
Metropolis of Lyon
The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing t ...
, a directly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of most urban issues, with a population of 1,411,571 in 2019.
Education
Universities and tertiary education
![Facultés](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Facult%C3%A9s.JPG)
*
École Centrale de Lyon
The École centrale de Lyon (ECL) is a research university in greater Lyon, France. Founded in 1857 by François Barthélemy Arlès-Dufour in response to the increasing industrialization of France, it is one of the oldest graduate schools in Fra ...
;
*
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
The École normale supérieure de Lyon (also known as ENS de Lyon, ENSL or Normale Sup' Lyon) is a French grande école located in the city of Lyon. It is one of the four prestigious écoles normales supérieures in France. The school is ...
*
EM Lyon (École de Management de Lyon);
* ECE Lyon (École de Commerce Européenne de Lyon);
*
Institut d'études politiques de Lyon
The Institut d'Études politiques de Lyon (or Lyon Institute of Political Studies) also known as Sciences Po Lyon, is a grande école located in Lyon, France. It is one of ten Institutes of Political Studies in France, and was established in 194 ...
(Sciences Po Lyon);
*
CPE Lyon
CPE may refer to:
Biochemistry
* Carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae, a "superbug" resistant to antibiotics
* Carboxypeptidase E, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of neuropeptides and peptide hormones
* Clostridium perfringens ente ...
;
*
CNSMD (Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon)
*
ECAM Lyon (École Catholique d'Arts et Métiers de Lyon);
*
EPITECH
The Paris Graduate School of Digital Innovation (french: École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies, or EPITECH), formerly European Institute of Information Technology, is a private institution of higher education in computer scien ...
;
*
EPITA;
*
ENTPE (École Nationale des Travaux Publiques de l'État);
*
ESME-Sudria
The École Spéciale de Mécanique et d'Electricité (English: Special School of Mechanics and Electricity), also known as ESME Sudria is a French private grande école founded in 1905. It is a part of the IONIS Education Group.
Founded in ''190 ...
;
*
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...
;
*
E-Artsup
E-Artsup is a French private school created in 2001 and specialized in digital creativity and multimedia. The school is located at Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, Montpellier, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille and is part of IONIS Education Group. Th ...
;
*
INSA Lyon
The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a non-profit, nonpartisan 501(c)(6) professional organization based in Arlington Virginia for public and private sector members of the United States Intelligence Community.
History
...
(Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon);
*
Polytech Lyon;
*
Institut supérieur européen de gestion group;
*
ISARA (Institut Supérieur d'Agriculture Rhône Alpes);
*
Institution des Chartreux
The Institution des Chartreux or more commonly Les Chartreux is a private Roman Catholic Carthusian educational establishment under a "contract of association" to the French state school system. The main site of the school is located in the 1s ...
;
*
Institut polytechnique des sciences avancées
The Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées (IPSA), ( en, Institute of Polytechnic Science and Aeronautics) is a French private ''grande école'' in aerospace engineering located at Ivry-sur-Seine, Lyon and Toulouse, recognized by the Frenc ...
;
*
Université Claude Bernard (Lyon 1);
*
Université Lumière (Lyon 2);
*
Université Jean Moulin (Lyon 3);
*
IAE (Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Lyon);
*
Institut Sup'Biotech de Paris
The Institut Sup'Biotech de Paris (Sup'Biotech or ISBP; en, Paris Higher Biotechnology Institute) is a French private engineering school created in 2003, located in Villejuif, near Paris, and in Lyon.
Sup'Biotech is specialized in the field o ...
;
*
Catholic University of Lyon
The Catholic University of Lyon (''Université Catholique de Lyon''), or the Lyon Catholic University also known as the Catholic Institute of Lyon (''Institut catholique de Lyon''), is a private university based in Lyon, France.
History
The Cat ...
;
*
ESDES
ESDES School of Business and Management (''École supérieure pour le développement économique et social'') is located in Lyon, France. It was created in 1987, within the Catholic University of Lyon ( UCLy). ESDES is state-recognised and its di ...
Business School;
* IDRAC (International School of Management);
*
Wesford
Wesford Grenoble Graduate Business School was created in 1987 in Grenoble, Lyon and Geneva, France. It claims to be the first business school in the area to provide part-time classes. Alex Lienard is Dean and President of the faculty. Originally l ...
Graduate Business School;
* IFAG (Business Management School);
*
Institut supérieur européen de formation par l'action
The Institut supérieur européen de formation par l'action (ISEFAC) is a French private business school created in 2000. Located at Paris, Lille, Nice, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, and Brussels, the school provides two courses: ISEFAC Bachelor and ...
;
* Le
Lycée du Parc
The Lycée du Parc is a public secondary school located in the sixth ''Arrondissements of Lyon, arrondissement'' of Lyon, France. Its name comes from the Parc de la Tête d'Or, one of Europe's largest urban parks, which is situated nearby.
It pro ...
;
*
La Martinière Lyon;
*
Web@cademie
Web@cademie is a private, nonprofit and tuition-free computer programming school created and funded by French IONIS Education Group with several partners including Epitech and Zup de Co association. The school was first opened in Paris in 2010.
H ...
;
* CEESO (Centre Européen d'Enseignement Supérieur de l'Ostéopathie);
* Bellecour, Écoles D'Arts.
Primary and secondary schools
There are some international private schools in the Lyon area, including:
*
Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon
The Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon (CSI), also known as the Lycée International de Lyon or Lycée de Gerland, is an international school located near the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône in the city of Lyon, France. It provides e ...
or the Lycée de Gerland;
** Includes the ''Section Japonaises'' (リヨン・ジェルラン補習授業校 ''Riyon Jeruran Hoshū Jugyō Kō'' "Lyon Gerland Japanese Supplementary School"), which the
Japanese Ministry of Education
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community. ...
(MEXT) counts as a
part-time Japanese supplementary school[欧州の補習授業校一覧(平成25年4月15日現在)]
. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...
(MEXT). Retrieved on 10 May 2014. Cite Scolaire: "Cité Scolaire Internationale, 2 place de Montréal,69361 LYON CEDEX 07 FRANCE" and Lyon: "Maison Berty Albrecht 14, Place Grandclement, 69100 Viueurbanne, FRANCE"
* Ombrosa;
*
International School of Lyon
International School of Lyon (ISL) is an English-language international school in Sainte Foy-Lès-Lyon, France, near Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of com ...
in nearby
Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon
Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon (, literally ''Sainte-Foy near Lyon'') is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
Geography
It is a suburb of the city of Lyon, located to the west of the city.
It is located ...
;
* Montessori School of Lyon.
Supplementary education
Other Japanese supplementary schools:
* The ''Association Pour le Developpement de la Langue et de la Culture Japonaises'' (ADLCJ; リヨン補習授業校 ''Riyon Hoshū Jugyō Kō'') is held in the ''Maison Berty Albrecht'' in
Villeurbanne
Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after tha ...
, near Lyon.
[ It was formed in 1987. It serves Japanese expatriate children who wish to continue their Japanese education whilst abroad.
]
Transport
Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport
Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Lyon-Saint Exupéry), formerly known as ''Lyon Satolas Airport'' , is the international airport of Lyon, the third-biggest city in France and an important transport facility for the e ...
, located east of Lyon, serves as a base for domestic and international flights. It is a key transport facility for the entire Rhône-Alpes region, with coach links to other cities in the area. The in-house train station Gare de Lyon Saint-Exupéry Gare is the word for "station" in French and related languages, commonly meaning railway station
Gare can refer to:
People
* Gare (surname), surname
* The Gare Family, fictional characters in the novel '' Wild Geese'' by Martha Ostenso
Places
* ...
connects the airport to the nationwide TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
network. The Rhônexpress tram monopoly links the airport with the business quarter of La Part Dieu in less than 30 minutes, and offers connections with Underground A & B, Tramway T1, T3 & T4, and bus lines. Lyon public transport Sytral offers a bus service, Route 47, that links the airport to Meyzieu where passengers can change onto Tram T3. The regular price of public transport is €1.90, as opposed to €15 one way for the Rhonexpress. In the suburb of Bron
Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France.
Geography
Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side.
Climat ...
, the smaller Lyon-Bron Airport provides an alternative for domestic aviation.
Lyon has two major railway stations: Lyon Part-Dieu, which was built to accommodate the TGV, and Lyon Perrache, an older station that now provides mostly regional service. Smaller railway stations include Gorge-de-Loup, Vaise
Vaise is a neighborhood of the City of Lyon (France), located along the 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 jo ...
, Vénissieux
Vénissieux (; Arpitan language, Arpitan: or in the Lyonnais dialect) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in eastern France.
Geography
Vénissieux is located on the sou ...
, Saint-Paul and Jean Macé
Jean François Macé (22 August 1815 in Paris – 13 December 1894 in Monthiers) was a French educator, journalist, active freemason and politician. He was perhaps best known as the founder of Ligue de l'enseignement
''La Ligue de l'enseig ...
. Lyon was the first city to be connected to Paris by the TGV in 1981. Since that time the TGV train network has expanded and links Lyon directly to Perpignan, Toulouse, Nice, Marseille, Strasbourg, Nantes and Lille. International trains operate directly to Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Turin, Geneva, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Brussels and London.
The city is at the heart of a dense road network and is located at the meeting point of several highways: A6 to Paris, A7 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 Franc ...
, A42 to Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, and A43 to Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
. The city is now bypassed by the A46. A double motorway tunnel passes under Fourvière, connecting the A6 and the A7 autoroutes, both forming the "Autoroute du Soleil".
Lyon is served by the Eurolines
Eurolines is a brand of intercity bus service owned by an international non-profit organisation formed under Belgian law. Using the Eurolines brand, partner bus companies operate service to over 600 destinations in 36 countries of Europe, as well ...
intercity coach organisation. Its Lyon terminal is located at the city's Perrache railway station, which serves as an intermodal transportation hub for tramways, local and regional trains and buses, the terminus of Metro line A, of the Tramway T2, the bicycle service Vélo'v, and taxis.
The Transports en commun lyonnais
The Transports en commun lyonnais ("Lyon public transport" in French language, French; usually referred to as TCL) is the Lyon public transport agency. It is the second largest public transport system in France (after Paris), and covers 73 Commune ...
(TCL), Lyon's public transit system, consisting of metro, tramways and buses, serves 62 communes of the Lyon metropolis. The metro network has four lines ( ), 42 stations, and runs with a frequency of up to a train every 2 minutes. There are eight Lyon tram lines since november 2020: T1 from ''Debourg'' in the south to ''IUT-Feyssine'' in the north, Tram T2 from ''Hôtel de région Montrochet'' to Saint-Priest in the south-east, Tram T3 from Part-Dieu
Part-Dieu () is an area of Lyon Metropolis. It is also the second largest tertiary district in France, after La Défense in Greater Paris, with over 1,150,000 m2 of office and service space, along with 45,000 service sector jobs, 2,500 compan ...
to Meyzieu
Meyzieu (; frp, Mêsiô) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is a large suburb of Lyon, situated 13 km east of the city centre on the left bank of the Rhône. Before 1967, it was part of t ...
, Tram T4 from 'Hôptial Feyzin Venissieux' to La Doua Gaston Berger. Tram T5 from Grange Blanche, in the south-east to Eurexpo in the south-west. Tram T6 from Debourg, in the south to Hôpitaux Est-Pinel in the east. Tram T7 from Vaux-en-Velin la soie, in the north-east to Décines – OL Vallée in the east. And Rhône Express tramline from Part-Dieu
Part-Dieu () is an area of Lyon Metropolis. It is also the second largest tertiary district in France, after La Défense in Greater Paris, with over 1,150,000 m2 of office and service space, along with 45,000 service sector jobs, 2,500 compan ...
to Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport
Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Lyon-Saint Exupéry), formerly known as ''Lyon Satolas Airport'' , is the international airport of Lyon, the third-biggest city in France and an important transport facility for the e ...
. The Lyon bus network consists of the Lyon trolleybus system, motorbuses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
, and coaches for areas outside the centre. There are also two funicular lines from Vieux Lyon to Saint-Just and Fourvière. The ticketing system is relatively simple as the city has only one public transport operator, the SYTRAL.
The public transit system has been complemented since 2005 by ''Vélo'v
Vélo'v is a bicycle sharing system run by the city of Lyon, France, in conjunction with the advertising company JCDecaux. It has been the pioneer of smart bicycle-sharing systems, previous systems being more ad hoc and run similar to a cha ...
'', a bicycle network providing a low-cost service where bicycles can be hired and returned at any of 340 stations throughout the city. Borrowing a bicycle for less than 30 minutes is free. Free rental time can be extended for another 30 minutes at any station. Lyon was the first city in France to introduce this bicycle renting system. In 2011 the Auto'lib car rental service was introduced; it works much the same way as the Velo'v but for cars.
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Lyon on a weekday is 45 minutes. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 11 min, while 17% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 4.7 km, while 4% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
International relations
Lyon is a pilot city of the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
and the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
"Intercultural cities" program. Lyon is twinned with:
* Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
, Ethiopia
* Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...
, Mali
* Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain
* Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
, Israel
* Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England, United Kingdom
* Boston, United States
* Craiova, Romania
* Frankfurt, Germany, since 1960
* Gothenburg Municipality, Gothenburg, Sweden
* Guangzhou, China, since 1988
* Haute Matsiatra, Madagascar
* Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, since 1997
* Jericho, Palestine
* Leipzig, Germany, since 1981
* Łódź, Poland, since 1991
* Milan, Italy, since 1966
* Montreal, Canada, since 1979
* Oran, Algeria
* Osaka, Japan, since 1984
* Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
* Porto-Novo, Benin
* Rabat, Morocco
* St. Louis, United States
* Saint Petersburg, Russia
* Sétif, Algeria
* Tinca, Romania
* Turin, Italy
* Yerevan, Armenia, since 1992
* Yokohama, Japan, since 1959
Notable people
* André-Marie Ampère
* Jonathan Gagnoud
* Gerard Bérchet, inventor of nylon and neoprene
* Karim Benzema, football player for Real Madrid
See also
* Gallia Lugdunensis
Gallia Lugdunensis ( French: ''Gaule Lyonnaise'') was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon ...
* List of films set in Lyon
* List of streets and squares in Lyon
* Mères of France
* Occupation of Saint-Nizier church by Lyon prostitutes
Notes
References
External links
*
Visit Lyon, the official website for tourism in France
Lyon Tourist Office and Convention Bureau
Lyon’s English Language News and Information
Rues de Lyon
Streets, Places, Monuments (in French)
The National Library of Israel
{{Authority control
Lyon,
Communes of Lyon Metropolis
Populated places on the Rhône
Cities in France
Prefectures in France
Segusiavi
Gallia Lugdunensis
Lyonnais
World Heritage Sites in France
Cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Populated riverside places in France