Vienne (; frp, Vièna) is a town in southeastern

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

, located south of

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

, at the confluence of the Gère and the Rhône. It is the fourth largest-commune in the Isère department, of which it is a subprefecture alongside

La Tour-du-Pin La Tour-du-Pin (; frp, La Tor-du-Pin) is a subprefecture of the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 8,137. Geography The Bourbre flows west through the southe ...

. Vienne was a major centre of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

under the Latin name ''Vienna''. Before the arrival of the Roman armies, Vienne was the capital of the Allobroges, a

Gallic people 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 spok ...

. Transformed into a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

colony in 47 BC under

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

, Vienne became a major urban centre, ideally located along the Rhône, then a major axis of communication. Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

banished

Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...

's son, the ethnarch

Herod Archelaus Herod Archelaus (, ''Hērōidēs Archelaos''; 23 BC – ) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for a period of nine years (). He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samar ...

to Vienne in 6 AD. The town became a Roman provincial capital and remains of Roman constructions are widespread across modern Vienne. It was also an important early bishopric in

Christian Gaul Gaul was an important early center of Latin Christianity in late antiquity and the Merovingian period. By the middle of the 3rd century, there were several churches organized in Roman Gaul, and soon after the cessation of persecution the bishop ...

. Its most famous

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

was

Avitus of Vienne Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus (c. 450 – February 5, 517/518 or 519) was a Latin poet and bishop of Vienne in Gaul. His fame rests in part on his poetry, but also on the role he played as secretary for the Burgundian kings. Avitus was born of a promi ...

. At the Council of Vienne, which was convened there in October 1311, Pope Clement V abolished the order of the Knights Templar. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Vienne was part of the Kingdom of Provence, dependent on the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, and the opposite bank of the Rhône was French territory, which made it a strategic position. The town is now a regional commercial and industrial centre, known regionally for its Saturday market. A Roman temple, circus pyramid and theatre (where the annual

Jazz à Vienne Jazz à Vienne is a Jazz Festival in Vienne, Isère, near Lyon, France. The festival has been held since 1981 in the months of June and July for two weeks. Every evening during the festival, there are concerts in the ancient Roman theater of ...

is held), as well as museums (archaeological, textile industry) and notable Catholic buildings, make

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

an important part of the town's economy.

History

Roman Vienne

The '' oppidum'' of the Allobroges became a

Roman colony A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term '' colony''. Character ...

about 47 BC under

, but the Allobroges managed to expel the Romans; the exiles then founded the colony of ''

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

'' (today's

). Ethnarch of Judea

was exiled here in 6 AD. During the early

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, ''Vienna'' (as the Romans called it—not to be confused with today's

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, then known as Vindobona) regained all its former privileges as a Roman colony. In 260 Postumus was proclaimed Emperor here of a short-lived Gallo-Roman Empire. Later it became a provincial capital of the Dioecesis Viennensis. Vienne became the seat of the vicar of prefects after the creation of regional dioceses, of which the date is still controversial. Regional dioceses were created during the First Tetrarchy, 293–305, or possibly later as some recent studies suggest in 313, but no later than the Verona List, which is securely dated to June 314. On the bank of the Gère are traces of the ramparts of the old Roman city, and on Mont Pipet (east of the town) are the remains of a

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

, while the ruined thirteenth-century castle there was built on Roman footings. Several ancient aqueducts and traces of Roman roads can still be seen. Two important Roman monuments still stand at Vienne. One is the Early Imperial Temple of Augustus and Livia, a rectangular peripteral building of the Corinthian order, erected by the emperor Claudius, which owes its survival, like the Maison Carrée at Nîmes, to being converted to a church soon after the

Theodosian decrees The persecution of pagans under Theodosius I began in 381, after the first couple of years of his reign as co-emperor in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. In the 380s, Theodosius I reiterated the ban of Constantine the Great on animal sacrific ...

and later rededicated as "Notre Dame de Vie." During the Revolutionary Reign of Terror it was used for the local Festival of Reason. The other is the ''Plan de l'Aiguille'', a truncated pyramid resting on a portico with four arches, from the Roman circus. Legends from the 13th century mention

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of ...

's death in Vienne. Later legends held that the pyramid was either the tomb of Herod Archelaus or of Pontius Pilate. The vestiges of a temple to Cybèle were discovered in 1945 when a new hospital was built on Mount Salomon and the Ancien Hôpital in the center of town was torn down. Subsequent archaeological research conducted in 1965 permitted detailed reconstruction of the floor plan for the temple as well as the surrounding forum and established that the temple was constructed in the first century AD.

Christian Vienne

The provincial capital was an important early seat of a bishop and the legendary first bishop said to have been Crescens, a disciple of Paul. There were Christians here in 177 when the churches of Vienne and Lyon addressed a letter to those of Asia and Phrygia, and mention is made of the deacon of Vienne ( Eusebius of Caesarea, '' Church History''). The first historical bishop was Verus, who was present at the Council of Arles (314). About 450, Vienne's bishops became archbishops, several of whom played an important cultural role, e.g. Mamertus, who established Rogation pilgrimages, and the poet, Avitus (498-518). Vienne's archbishops and those of Lyon disputed the title of " Primate of All the Gauls" based on the dates of founding of the cities compared to the dates of founding of the bishoprics. Vienne's archbishopric was suppressed in 1790 during the Revolution and officially terminated 11 years later by the Concordat of 1801.

Burgundian Vienne

Vienne was a target during the Migration Period: it was taken by the Kingdom of the Burgundians in 438, but re-taken by the Romans and held until 461. In 534 the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

-led

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

captured Vienne. It was then sacked by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

in 558, and later by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

in 737. When

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...

's king divided Frankish Burgundia into three parts in 843 by the

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...

, Vienne became part of Middle Francia.

In the Kingdom of Provence

King Charles II the Bald assigned the Viennois district in 869 to Comte

Boso of Provence Boso (french: Boson; c. 841 – 11 January 887) was a Frankish nobleman of the Bosonid family who was related to the Carolingian dynasty and who rose to become King of Lower Burgundy and Provence. Origin Boso was the son of Bivin of Gorze, ...

, who in 879 proclaimed himself king of Provence and on his death in 887 was buried at Vienne in the cathedral church of St. Maurice. Vienne then continued as capital of the ''Dauphiné Vienne'' of the Kingdom of Provence, from 882 of the Kingdom of West Francia and from 933 of the Kingdom of Burgundy until in 1032, when it reverted to the

, but the real rulers were the archbishops of Vienne. Their rights were repeatedly recognized, but they had serious local rivals in the counts of Albon, and later Dauphins of the surrounding countship of the Viennois. In 1349, the reigning Dauphin sold his rights to the Dauphiné to France, but the archbishop stood firm and Vienne was not included in this sale. The archbishops finally surrendered their territorial powers to France in 1449.

Gui de Bourgogne Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...

, who was archbishop 1090–1119, was pope from 1119 to 1124 as Callixtus II. The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth

Ecumenical Council An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote ar ...

of the Roman Catholic Church that met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne. Its principal act was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar on the instigation of Philip IV of France.

France

The archbishops did not give up their rights over it to France till 1449, when it first became French. Vienne was sacked in 1562 by the Protestants under the baron des Adrets, and was held for the Ligue 1590–95, when it was taken in the name of Henri IV by Montmorency. The fortifications were demolished between 1589 and 1636.

Industrial era

Train stations were built in Vienne in 1855 and in Estressin in 1875 providing freight transport to the textile and metallurgy industries, which had begun taking advantage of the water power in the valley of the river Gère in the previous centuries.

Population

Monuments

The two outstanding Roman remains in Vienne are the temple of

and Livia, and the ''Plan de l'Aiguille'' or ''Pyramide'', a truncated pyramid resting on a portico with four arches, which was associated with the city's Roman circus. The early Romanesque church of Saint Peter belonged to an ancient

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey and was rebuilt in the ninth century, with tall square piers and two ranges of windows in the tall

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...

s and a notable porch. It is one of France's oldest Christian buildings dating from the 5th century laid-out in the form of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

and having a large and well constructed

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

. It also has a Romanesque tower and a sculptured South portal containing a statue of Saint Peter. Today, the building houses a lapidary museum that holds a Junon head and a statue of Tutela, the city's protective divinity. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

former cathedral of St Maurice was built between 1052 and 1533. It is a basilica, with three aisles and an apse, but no ambulatory or

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

s. It is in length, wide and in height. The most striking portion is the west front, which rises majestically from a terrace overhanging the Rhône. Its sculptural decoration was badly damaged by the Protestants in 1562 during the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. The Romanesque church of St André en Bas was the church of a second Benedictine monastery, and became the chapel of the earlier kings of Provence. It was rebuilt in 1152, in the later Romanesque style.

Gallery

Image:Gare de Vienne.JPG, The SNCF Station of Vienne Image:Vienne-cavea-du-haut.jpg, The Gallo-Roman theater of Vienne Image:Notre Dame de Pipet.jpg, Pipet cemetery, Chemin des Aqueducs (D41), Notre Dame de Pipet Image:Chapelle Notre-Dame de Pipet de nuit Vienne.jpg, Notre Dame de Pipet Image:Église Saint-André-le-Bas. 010.JPG, Saint-André le Bas Abbey Image:Cloître Saint-André-le-Bas 02.JPG, Saint-André le Bas Abbey Image:38544 Saint-André le Haut (ex Saint-Louis) 2.JPG, Saint-André le Haut Abbey Image:Bus L'VA - Gare de Vienne.JPG, The #5 line, train station to Lucien Hussel hospital. Image:Vienne (avril 2009) 022.jpg, The Gallo-Roman Pyramid image:Pontius_Pilatus_angebl_Grabmal_Vienne_(IZ_48-1867_S_266_JResch).jpg, Legend of the pyramid as

's tomb Image:38544 Fontaines Mairie 2.jpg, Fountain in central Vienne Image:Vienne_(avril_2009).jpg, The banks of the river Rhône, in central Vienne Image:Rhône-Alpes (2009) 008.jpg, View over the North of the city Image:Rhône-Alpes (2009) 005.JPG, View over the South of the city with the

Pilat Pilat is a common surname in Central Europe. It is spelled simply ''Pilat'' in Western countries such as France and Austria, ''Pilát'' in Czech and Slovak, and ''Piłat'' in Polish. This may refer to individuals bearing the last name or the nam ...

mounts in the background

Notable people

(23 BC – ca.18 AD), ethnarch *

(according to legend) *

(450–ca.578), poet, bishop of Vienne and saint *

, (ca.841–887), Carolingian king of Provence * Pope Callixtus II (1065–1124), Archbishop of Vienne from 1088, Pope from 1119. * Michael Servetus (1509–1553), savant, burned as a heretic * Nicolas Chorier (1612–1692), lawyer, historian, author *

Jean-François Leriget de La Faye Jean-François Leriget de La Faye (1674, Vienne, Isère – 11 July 1731, Paris) was a French diplomat, wealthy landowner and art collector, poet,Moore, Susan (April 2017). Preview. '' Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors'' 185 (652): ...

(1674–1731) a diplomat, wealthy landowner, art collector and poet * Jean-Baptiste-Charles Chabroud (1750–1816), a French lawyer and politician. *

Laurent Mourguet Laurent Mourguet (3 March 1769 – 30 December 1844) was a French puppeteer, creator of the famous puppet Guignol. See also * Guignol External links Laurent Mourgueton Wikisource Société des Amis de GuignolPortail des Arts de la Marionnet ...

(1769–1884), puppeteer *

François Ponsard François Ponsard (1 June 1814 – 7 July 1867) was a French dramatist, poet and author and was a member of the Académie française. Biography Ponsard was born at Vienne, Isère in 1814 and trained as a lawyer. His first literary work w ...

(1814–1867) a French dramatist, poet and author. * Louis Vialleton (1859-1929) a French zoologist and writer * Fernand Point (1897–1955), chef *

Hubert Sagnières Hubert Sagnières, born on 10 May 1955 in Vienne, France, is a company executive of French and Canadian nationality. He was chairman and CEO of Essilor International from 2012 to 2018 and became executive vice-chairman of EssilorLuxottica whil ...

, (born 1955) an EssilorLuxottica company executive of French/Canadian nationality.

Twin towns – sister cities

Vienne is twinned with: *

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, t ...

, Spain * Esslingen am Neckar, Germany * Greenwich, United States * Goris, Armenia * Neath Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom * Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland * Schiedam, Netherlands * Udine, Italy * Velenje, Slovenia

References

* Martial, Epigrams, 7.78 *

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

, Geography, 4.1.10

External links

Livius.org: Roman Vienne
- historical information and pictures
Official website
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vienne, Isere Communes of Isère Subprefectures in France Allobroges Pontius Pilate Dauphiné Populated places on the Rhône Populated riverside places in France People from Vienne, Isère