The Place des Célestins is a square located in the Célestins quarter, in the

2nd arrondissement of Lyon The 2nd arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of Lyon, arrondissements of the City of Lyon. History The first five Arrondissements of Lyon, arrondissements of Lyon were created by the Decree of March 24, 1852, which included th ...

. The square was named after the religious of the Order of the

Celestines The Celestines were a Roman Catholic monastic order, a branch of the Benedictines, founded in 1244. At the foundation of the new rule, they were called Hermits of St Damiano, or Moronites (or Murronites), and did not assume the appellation of C ...

which were installed from 1407 to 1778. Redevelopment in 1995 added an underground

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surfac ...

. This zone is served by the metro station ''Bellecour''. It belongs to the zone classified as

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 ...

by UNESCO.

History

Before 1307, the square was located on the lands owned by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, who had a command post there. After the Knights Templar's eviction, the Celestines installed a monastery which, despite some fires, remained for almost 400 years. Eventually demolished in 1778, it was replaced with the housing estate of the Celestines and a theater. In the second half of the 19th century, the plan of major architectural creations through

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 ...

provided for a track linking the rue Mercière and 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 ...

to the Place des Célestins. This project was finally cancelled. The square was redeveloped in 1994-1995, during which an underground

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

was dug. Within the square, a kind of

refracting telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...

provides a

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

view of the car park below. The square has had almost the same appearance since the eighteenth century. Its most notable monument is the

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 ...

, 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 cit ...

, and inaugurated in 1877, then in 2005.

References

External links

Célestins demain

Official site of the Théâtre des Célestins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Place Des Celestins 2nd arrondissement of Lyon Celestins World Heritage Sites in France Celestine Order

History

See also

References

External links