Vieux Lyon

The Vieux Lyon ( en, Old Lyon) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon. In 1964, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an area of 424 hectares between the Fourvière hill and the river Saône,
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Lyon Metropole and the region, districts of Lyon, Vieux Lyon it is one of Europe’s most extensive Renaissance neighborhoods. There are three distinct sections: Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges. In 1998, Vieux Lyon was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with other districts in Lyon because of its historical importance and architecture.

The Saint Jean quarter in the Middle Ages was the focus of political and religious power. The Cathedral of St Jean, seat of the archbishop of Lyon (also known as the Primate of Gaul), is a good example of Gothic architecture. The Manécanterie adjoining the cathedral is one of Lyon's few extant Romanesque buildings. Formerly a choir school, it now houses the museum of the cathedral’s treasures. Saint Jean is also home to the Museum of Miniatures and Film Sets, located in a building that was the Golden Cross Inn in the 15th century.

The Saint-Paul section in the 15th and 16th centuries predominantly housed Italian banker-merchants. They moved into sumptuous urban residences here called ''hôtels particuliers''. The Hôtel Bullioud and the Hôtel de Gadagne are two examples and the latter now houses the Lyon Historical Museum and the International Puppet Museum. The Loge du Change stands as testimony to the period when trade fairs made the city wealthy. The Saint Paul church, with its Romanesque lantern tower and its spire, mark the section’s northern extremity.

The Saint Georges section was home to silk weavers, who settled in the section beginning in the 16th century. They later moved to the Croix Rousse hill in the 19th century. In 1844, the architect Pierre Bossan rebuilt the St George's Church on the banks of the Saône in a neo-Gothic style. In the Middle Ages, when there were only a few parallel streets between the hill and the Saône, the first traboules were built. Derived from the Latin trans-ambulare, meaning to pass through, traboules are corridors through buildings and their courtyards, connecting one street directly with another. A large number of galleries and spiral staircases remain in the traboules.

Gallery

Image:Cours Philibert Delorme.jpg, Well in Cour Philibert Delorme, rue Juiverie
Image:Lyon_5_-_Hôtel_de_Bullioud_02.jpg, Hôtel de Bullioud, rue Juiverie
Image:Rue du Boeuf.jpg, Buildings in the rue du Bœuf
Image:Rue Juiverie Lyon.jpg, Rue Juiverie
Image:Boeuf Lyon.jpg, Statue at the corner of rue du Bœuf and Place neuve Saint Jean
Image:Lyon St Jean Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere.jpg, Lyon Cathedral and the Saône, in background the Fourvière hill
Image:Arcades Vieux Lyon.jpg, Building in Saint-Paul
Image:GareStPaulLyon.JPG, Gare Saint-Paul
Image:Lyon - Saint-Jean.jpg, Cathedral and the manécanterie (one of the oldest buildings in Lyon)
Image:Principale_artère_du_quartier_médiéval_et_Renai.jpg, Rue Saint-Jean, the main street of Vieux Lyon
Image:Chamarier.jpg, Chamarier house
Image:Cour-vieux-lyon.jpg, A courtyard and its staircase tower
Image:Escalier-vieux-lyon.jpg, A staircase
Image:Fenetres2-vieux-lyon.jpg, Windows in medieval style
Image:Fenetres-vieux-lyon.jpg, Windows in medieval style
Image:Gadagne.jpg, Hôtel de Gadagne
Image:Tour rose.jpg, The 'tour rose' (pink tower)
Image:Tour rose - portail.jpg, The main gate of the 'Tour rose' in Renaissance style

Saint-Paul

Saint-Paul is the quarter surrounding Gare Saint-Paul, built in 1873, and the homonymous church. It is the scholastic pole of Vieux Lyon, with two main institutes, les Maristes et les Lazaristes. The church of Saint Paul itself was built for the first time in 549 and rebuilt in the 11th and 12th centuries.

See also

* History of Lyon

References

{{5th arrondissement of Lyon

5th arrondissement of Lyon
Quarters of Lyon
Tourist attractions in Lyon