Lugdunum, formerly known as the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière () or Museum of Roman Civilisation (), is a museum of

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

civilisation in

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 ...

(Roman

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

). Previously presented at the

Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon The Museum of Fine Arts of 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 17th and 18th centuries. It was res ...

and the Antiquarium, the municipal Gallo-Roman collection was transferred to a new building designed by

Bernard Zehrfuss Bernard Louis Zehrfuss (Angers, 20 October 1911 – Neuilly-sur-Seine, 3 July 1996) was a French architect. Life He was born at Angers, into a family that had fled from the Alsace in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian War. Zehrfuss's father was kil ...

and opened in 1975, near the city's Roman theatre and odeon, on a hill known as

Fourvière Fourvière () is a city 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 build ...

, located in the heart of the Roman city. Internally, it is formed of a concrete spiral ramp descending and branching out into the display rooms. It is managed and operated by the

Metropolis of Lyon The Metropolis of Lyon (, ), also known as Grand Lyon (, "Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly-elected metropolitan authority, encompassing both the city of L ...

jointly with the archaeological museum of

Saint-Romain-en-Gal Saint-Romain-en-Gal (; ) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is located south of Lyon, on the west bank of the river Rhône. Vienne, Isère is on the opposite bank of the river and the two settlements are linked by a foo ...

. As well as displaying its own permanent collections of Roman, Celtic and pre-Roman material (inscriptions, statues, jewellery, everyday objects), a

plan-relief A plan-relief () is a scale model of a landscape and buildings produced for military usage, made to visualize building projects on fortification, fortifications or campaigns surrounding fortified locations. History The first examples seem to have ...

of the ancient town and scale models of its major monuments such as the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and the Odeon, it also regularly hosts temporary exhibitions. On November 8, 2017, the museum was renamed Lugdunum.

Circus Mosaic

Discovered in the Ainay district in 1806, this mosaic shows a circus during a chariot race, making it one of the few ancient representations of such a race (Lyon itself had a circus, the place of which has not been discovered).

Other objects

* the Gallic

Coligny calendar The Coligny calendar is a bronze plaque with an inscribed calendar, made in Roman Gaul in the 2nd century CE. It lays out a five-year cycle of a lunisolar calendar, each year with twelve lunar months. An intercalary month is inserted before eac ...

* the silver Lyon cup, decorated with images of Gallic gods * fragments of the decoration of the Altar of Rome and Augustus, from the federal sanctuary of the three Gauls * 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 ...

, with a speech by

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

* large mosaics such as the * the Taurobolic Altar, dedicated in 160 to restore the health of

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

* many large Dionysiac sarcophagi, including the Sarcophagus of the Triumph of Bacchus * the Lyon-Vaise Hoard of dishes, jewellery and silver statuettes buried during a 3rd-century Germanic invasion

References

External links

Official website
(in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lugdunum Museums of ancient Rome in France Museums in Lyon Roman Lyon 5th arrondissement of Lyon Museums established in 1975 1975 establishments in France Modernist architecture in France Gallo-Roman culture