The Île Barbe is an island situated in the middle of the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

, in the 9th arrondissement of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, part of the quartier Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe (a former-commune annexed in 1963). Its name comes from the Latin ''insula barbara'', "Barbarians' Island", suggesting that it was one of the last locales to be occupied (two centuries after the banks of the Saône were, at the foot of the hill of Fourvière).

Geography

History

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, later an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

, was founded on the island in the 5th century. This was the first monastic establishment in the Lyon region and one of the oldest in all of Gaul.

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

gave it a beautiful library. The monastery, pillaged several times (in 676 and 725 by the Saracens, and in 937 by the HunsLyon Historique - L'île Barbe
/ref>), adopted the

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...

in the 9th century and gradually became wealthy. In 816,

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

awarded the monastery: * the right to maintain at all time three boats upon the

, the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

and the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

in 861. At the beginning of the 16th century, the abbey passed into the ownership '' in commendam'' of the d'Albon family. In 1549, the abbey was secularised and became a college of canons. In 1562, it was looted and burned by the Protestant troops of François de Beaumont, baron des Adrets. The college of canons was suppressed in 1741, and replaced by an establishment for aged or infirm priests, which was suppressed in its turn in 1783. At the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, everything remaining on the island was sold and dispersed. Porte Sainte-Anne à l'île Barbe.jpg, Porte Sainte-Anne illustrated by Joannès Drevet (1854–1940). Île Barbe Lyon 18xx.jpg, L'Île-Barbe at the beginning of the 19th century. Ile barbe à Lyon.jpg, The Ile Barbe at Lyon today.

The first bridge

In the 17th century, or in 1734, the architect Cotton constructed a wooden bridge which provided access to the Ile Barbe In 1827, a suspension bridge replaced it (it is the oldest in Lyon still in service). It is reached from the Passerelle Masaryk and the Passerelle Saint-Vincent, crossing the island at the level of its southern point and permitting the linking of the left and right banks of the Saône, the villages of Saint-Rambert (today Lyon 9^e) and of

Caluire-et-Cuire Caluire-et-Cuire (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the department of Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, eastern France. It is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. ...

.see Ponts de Lyon During the years 1870–1880, three well-reputed rowing clubs were located here: the Aviron Club de Lyon-Caluire, the Aviron Union Nautique de Lyon (6^e club français) and the Cercle de l'Aviron de Lyon (5^e club français).

The Ile today

In the 21st century, only the Romanesque church of Notre-Dame remains extant of the monastic buildings. Only the northern part of the Ile may be visited (about one-half of the island) which consists of a small number of exclusive old private homes and a few vestiges of ruined religious buildings. There is also a restaurant. There are also some remains of a lodging reconstructed in about 1840 as the Château de Saint-Rambert-l'Ile-Barbe also known as the Château du Fresnes, and another château, the Château du Chastelard of the 15th century, reconstructed in the 16th century. The Ile is reached by a 10-minute bus ride from the gare de Vaise (bus TCL 31 et 43 côté Lyon-St Rambert), and 15 minutes from the Place Bellecour (bus TCL 40 côté Caluire). Tere is also a

Vélo'v Vélo'v is a bicycle sharing system, bicycle-sharing system running in 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 a ...

(bicycle sharing) point. The Ile is composed of a public part – terrains for pétanque, a large lawn, a children's playground – and a private part reached via two roads, the Impasse Saint-Loup for reaching the restaurant and the Chemin du Bas-Port leading to the

). These two roads are not joined; the Impasse Saint-Loup ends at the door to a private courtyard. File:Pont-S01-Ile-Barbe-RG-06.JPG, Pont de l'île Barbe File:Lyon ilebarbe eglisesaintloup portail.jpg, Remains of the church of Saint-Loup

Geography

History

The first bridge

The Ile today

Notes and references

See also

Bibliography

External links