Historic Cities · France
Lyon through the ages
Lyon is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, 391 km (243 mi) southeast of Paris, 278 km (173 mi) north of Marseille, and 113 km (70 mi) southwest of Geneva, Switzerland.
Lyon in AD 100
Roman Lugdunum
This is Lugdunum at the height of its early imperial prosperity: a provincial capital straddling the Saône and Rhône with temples, theatres on Fourvière, aqueducts, busy river quays and an imperial mint. The walk moves from the hilltop sanctuaries and theatres down to the rivers and market quays, passing workshops, the forum and the civic monuments that mark Roman civic life.
Stone and tile dominate the skyline: terracotta roofs and pale limestone walls climbing the Fourvière heights above the brown rivers. Broad arched aqueducts stride across lower slopes, while temples and the curved mass of the theatre stand out against sky. Street-level scenes are shaded porticoes, sunlit open markets, packed river-wharves with amphorae and wooden masts, and compact blocks of two- and three-storey stone houses along paved Roman streets.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
Approach on Via Agrippa → Monts d'Or Aqueduct → Fourvière Hill → Great Theatre of Fourvière → Odeon of Fourvière → Sanctuary of the Three Gauls → The Confluence (Confluens) → Saône Right-Bank Wharves → Riverside Warehouses → Vaise District Workshops → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Atrium of a Patrician Domus · Scaenae Frons and Stage House · Small Covered Concert Hall · Regional Council Curia · Wharfside Merchants' Counting Room · Granary and Riverside Warehouse · Bronze Smith's Workshop · Amphitheatre's Central Arena · Basilica's Public Hall · Coining Hall of the Mint · Caldarium Hot Bath Chamber · Timbered Cargo Shed
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Lugdunum.
Lyon in 1500
Renaissance Lyon
Lyon in 1500 is a dense, prosperous Renaissance entrepôt where four yearly international fairs and a rising printing trade bring merchants, books and bankers from across Europe. The walk moves from the Roman heights of Fourvière down through Vieux Lyon's narrow streets and traboules, across the busy Presqu'île of printers and loggias, and out toward the Guillotière fairs at the Rhône bridge.
A compact city of steep stone hills and narrow, tiled roofs, Lyon in 1500 shows ochre and pink plaster beside dark timber framing, high medieval gables and the squat mass of Saint-Jean cathedral. Stone bridges cross the brown Rhône and Saône, quays and narrow streets teem with packhorses, carts and hawkers, and the peninsula around rue Mercière is a tight spine of timber-fronted houses, signboards and printing banners where smoke and ink hang in the air.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Fourvière Hill Approach → Roman Theatre, Fourvière → Montée du Gourguillon → Porte Saint-Jean → Place Saint-Jean → Cathédrale Saint-Jean → Rue Saint-Jean → Tour Rose Traboule → Rue du Bœuf → Place Saint-Paul → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Odeon Stage Chamber · Cooper's Workshop · Cathedral Sacristy · Astronomical Clock Chamber · Traboule Court and Stair · Merchant's Courtyard · Wool Merchants' Hall · Customs Toll Chamber · Printing Press Workshop · Moneychangers' Exchange Hall · Florentine Bankers' Counting House · Fishmongers' Covered Stalls · Hôtel-Dieu Infirmary Ward
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Lyon.
Lyon in 1835
Silk-weavers' Lyon
Lyon in 1835 is a city shaped by silk: the Croix‑Rousse slopes are a forest of tall canut houses and workshop windows, and the two rivers carry raw silk and finished cloth to markets. The walk moves from the city's high terraces and Roman ruins down through Vieux Lyon and the Presqu'île to the canuts' streets and the Rhône quays.
The skyline is a staccato of rooflines: low Renaissance houses along the Saône, the cathedral's towers, the odd classical hospital façade on the Rhône and the steep ribs of Croix‑Rousse rising like a fabric mill. Buildings are mostly pale stone and ochre plaster; shutters and loom‑windows punctuate brickwork. Narrow streets open to a few wide squares; smoke from dyehouses and steamboat funnels hangs over river quays.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Fourvière Slope View → Roman Theatre of Fourvière → Cathédrale Saint-Jean → Rue Saint-Jean → Traboule at Rue du Bœuf → Pont du Change → Quai Saint-Antoine → Place Bellecour → Rue Mercière → Place des Terreaux → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Vaulted Theatre Passage · Saint-Jean Nave · Tight Bouchon Common Room · Covered Traboule Gallery · Drapery Sample Hall · Town Hall Council Chamber · Hôtel-Dieu Infirmary Ward · La Guillotière Market Hall · Steamboat Lower Saloon · Gareur's Workbench · Ourdisseuse's Warping Loft · Upper Canut Workshop · Bon‑Pasteur Arsenal Room
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Canut revolts.
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