The Rue des Capucins is a street located in the

1st arrondissement of Lyon The 1st arrondissement of Lyon, France is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon. It is located below the hill of Croix-Rousse and on the north part of the Presqu'île formed by the Saône and the Rhône, the two rivers in Lyon. T ...

, between the 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 ...

and 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 ...

. Straight but slightly inclined, it continues the

rue du Sergent Blandan The Rue du Sergent Blandan is one of the oldest streets of Lyon. It connects Saint Vincent and the slopes of the Croix-Rousse quarters, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon. The street starts rue Pareille, runs along the Place Sathonay, crosses the r ...

, begins with the Place des Capucins and ends on the

Place Croix-Paquet The Place Croix-Paquet is a square located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, in the pentes de la Croix-Rousse quarter. It is formed by the intersection of the rue du Griffon, the rue des Capucins and the montée Saint-Sébastien. The square belong ...

. It is parallel to the rue René Laynaud. The street belongs to the zone classified

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

In its eastern part, the street replaces the old rue Vannerot established in the 17th century, dedicated to Jean Vannerot and which changed of name in 1850. The western part of the rue des Capucines was opened in the mid-19th century on the former site of the garden owned by monks, and a small square called Place des Capucins was open in the 18th century. The monastery of the

Capuchin order The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

, named Capucins du Petit Forez, was built in 1622 at the current location of the No. 6 and their church, the chapel of Saint-André, was located at the foot of the

montée de la Grande Côte The Montée de la Grande Côte, or the Montée de la Grande-Côte, is a street of La Croix-Rousse quarter, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, which connects the Terreaux quarter and the Plateau de la Croix Rousse. It is characterized by a high ele ...

. Their home was purchased and rebuilt by a banker, André Coste.

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...

attended the start of construction of the building which was dedicated on 25 April 1635 by Jean de Nuchèse. Finally, the Capuchins were expelled from the street 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 ...

. In 1810, the street was named Grande rue neuve des Capucins.

Architecture and associations

The architecture is quite simple, without frills. There is a row of old four to five-storey houses with sober facades and beautiful doors and sometimes arches. There are in this street the municipal police station, several shops and boutiques, an association for gays, the

café-théâtre Originally, a café-théâtre was a small room in a café or a cabaret, or even the café or cabaret itself, where people would put on Performance, spectacles. These spectacles were mostly unconventional or of limited means, and could range from o ...

Le Complexe du Rire and a

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

in the square.

Traboules

The streets has many

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: * No. 3 and 5 - 6 rue Leynaud: traboules and courtyards * No. 6 - Place des Capuchins: traboule which leads to a beautiful garden (that of the Capuchin monks) * No. 7: ruins of small huts * No. 15 - rue Leynaud: staircase in the upper courtyard * No. 19 - 3 rue Abbé Rozier: in the courtyard, two climbs of stairs are in front of each other, built in the same style as those of the

Cour des Voraces The Cour des Voraces, also called Maison de la République, is a courtyard building in the Pentes quarter, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, famous for its enormous six-floor stairway. It is an impressive traboule, a covered passage with entrance ...

* No. 22 - 5 rue Coustou: beautiful entrance with columns

References

{{coord, 45, 46, 09, N, 4, 49, 59, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title 1st arrondissement of Lyon Capucins World Heritage Sites in France