1st arrondissement of Lyon, France

The 1st arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of Lyon. It is located on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse and on the northern part of the peninsula formed by the Saône and the Rhône. The first arrondissement was created on March 24, 1852. Marked by its history, it is an integral part of the site classified world heritage by UNESCO in 1998. The contrast of its territory makes it attractive from a historical point of view, but also from a cultural and economic point of view.

The territory of the 1st arrondissement, due to its central position, brings together important Lyon heritage places as well as representative cultural structures of Lyon: The amphitheater of the Three Gauls, The most atypical traboules in Lyon, The Town Hall, Place de la Comédie, The Opera, place de la Comédie, Place des Terreaux, The Fine Arts Museum, Place des Terreaux, Cour des Voraces, 9 place Colbert, Saint-Bruno des Chartreux: the only baroque church in Lyon. The church has a series of paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries of the first order.

History
The Saint-Sébastien hill, formerly located in Franc-Lyonnais, was incorporated into the city of Lyon in 1512, when Louis XII decided to build fortifications at the top of the slopes to defend the city of Lyon. The 1st arrondissement is one of the five created onMarch 24, 1852 by presidential decree.

Communities
The nine arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more idiosyncratic. This is for historical reasons: following the annexation of the communes of La Guillotière, La Croix-Rousse and Vaise in 1852, the newly enlarged city was divided into 5 arrondissements, which originally spiralled out anticlockwise from the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall); however, as the city’s population expanded, it became necessary to split certain arrondissements, giving rise to today’s seemingly random pattern.

Located in the center of the peninsula, the 1st district is the smallest of all the districts of Lyon. Around Place des Terreaux, bars and pubs make it one of the city’s liveliest districts. The 1st district of Lyon is made up of the districts:

Pentes de la Croix-Rousse district
The slopes of Croix-Rousse form one of the two districts located on the hill of Croix-Rousse, and straddle the 1st and 4 th arrondissements of Lyon. Croix Rousse The slopes are staged from the street garden plants to the top of the hill, thus excluding the area around the place sathonay left in the flat part of the 1st district.

The Pentes district is clinging to the hill and therefore steeply sloping. Several arteries are explicitly called “climbs”: Montée de la Grand’Côte, Montée Saint-Sébastien, Montée des Carmélites, etc. In 1862, the world’s first urban funicular was put into service between rue Terme and boulevard de la Croix-Rousse (funicular of rue Terme). In 1891, a second funicular was put into service between Croix-Paquet and Croix-Rousse. The first funicular was transformed into a road tunnel after it closed in 1967. The second was integrated into line C of the Lyon metro. Due to the steep gradient, a rackhad to be installed on the section between the Hôtel de Ville – Louis Pradel and Croix-Rousse stations, which is a unique case in the world for a metro

The district has several vestiges of the Roman era: at the level of the Jardin des Plantes are located the ancient amphitheater of the three Gauls, as well as the Roman road or Rhine road which once connected the city of Lugdunum – Roman name of Lyon – to the Germania. There are also many traboules, passages between buildings, sometimes covered and made up of flights of stairs, which are in fact shortcuts to get to the city center, towards Les Terreaux. The slopes constitute a set dedicated to pedestrians with its narrow streets, sloping or stairs. As in Old Lyon, the renovation of this old quarter (originally silky) has brought in new populations that are rather young and oriented towards cultural activities

The Carthusians district
The Chartreux is a neighborhood located in the 1st district of the city of Lyon, near the Clos Jouve, on the plateau of the Croix-Rousse. The district is home to the Institution des Chartreux, a private college and high school.

The monks of the Charterhouse of the Lys Holy Spirit who left at the time of the Revolution, their convent of the Croix-Rousse in Lyon, said Caroline Boudet M Choussy meets some girls in this former Charterhouse. With Father Furnion, they drew up the statutes of a congregation, recognized by the Church in 1824. The community grew: it was the beginning of the perpetual Adoration of the Sacred Heart. Today, the convent is the current Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle private high school on the Sacré-Coeur site and houses the church of the same name, built in 1803 and never consecrated.

Historical heritage

Lyon city hall
located between Place des Terreaux and Place de la Comédie, where it faces the Opera. It has been classified as a historical monument since the July 12, 1886. One of the most beautiful historic buildings in the city, it is very imposing (it overlooks the Place des Terreaux but also on the Place de la Comédie; in front of the Opera), its interior contains a lot of riches (which we can unfortunately only see for a few days, especially during European Heritage Days). It also houses one of the largest carillons in Europe. One can only contemplate its magnificent facade which overlooks the Place des Terreaux.

Place des Terreaux
The Terreaux square is a square located in the 1st district of Lyon, on the peninsula between the Rhône and the Saône, at the foot of the hill of the Croix-Rousse.

The lively heart of the city, for many Lyonnais it is the most beautiful square in the city with a grandiose setting: the classic facades of the Town Hall, the Palais Saint-Pierre and the presence of the Bartholdi’s “4 rivers” fountain is reflected in the 68 water jets in the square; redeveloped at the end of the 1990s by Buren, it is located between the center of the Presqu’île and the Pentes district (Croix-Rousse).

In 1206, associations of merchants of Lyon ran to Archbishop Renaud II de Forez, who failed to comply with the charter signed in 1195 by violating the agreements made in respect of taxes on goods. To protect the village of Saint-Nizier from ecclesiastical power, the bourgeois of Lyon then decided to raise a wall at the foot of the hill of Saint-Sébastien (slope of the Croix-Rousse) and a tower on the Saône to control the bridge of the Exchange, which was the sole passage between Saint-Nizier and Saint-Jean (a parish on the west side of the Saône, in Vieux Lyon); de Forez intervened by force of arms in 1208, and peace returned through the intervention of Pope Innocent III.

However, Renaud de Forez and his successors continued the works undertaken by the bourgeois of Lyon, in order to protect the city from a potential attack by the Dombes. A two-metre-thick and ten-metre-high new wall was built between the Saône and Rhône. Approximately 500 metres long, this enclosure was pierced by two gates defended by drawbridges (la Porte de la Pêcherie o the Saône et la porte de la Lanterne) and protected by ten towers. A crenelated walk and five stone booths allowed soldiers to watch at the top.

The main wall was separated by a 22-metre ditch from another two-metre wall located to the north. In the fourteenth century, a third structure built into the slope was added, then, at the beginning of the 15th century, a new structure was built on the Saint Sébastien hilltop, consisting of a mound of earth protected by wood towers. In case of siege, the ditch, which was called Terralia nova (Fossés of Terreaux) or Fossés de la Lanterne, could be filled with water. This one entered when needed in a succession of basins, called the Neyron channel, dug laterally to the Rhone.

Under normal circumstances, the crossbowmen, then culverin men used ditches as a training location, first on the Saône side, then from 1533 on the Rhône side.

In the 16th century, the walls crumbled. In 1538, the demolition of the enclosure was initiated. The ditch located on the Saône side was filled later to build the Boucherie de la Lanterne. In 1555, the nuns of the convent Saint-Pierre were allowed to use the stones of the wall to repair the monastery. In 1578, the lands of the current Place des Terreaux were filled, and in 1617, the former ditch disappeared with the development of the gardens of city hall on which the Opera stand today. Between 1646 and 1651, Simon Maupin built on the eastern side of the square the Hôtel de ville de Lyon, rebuilt by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, after the fire of 1674. In the 17th century, the nuns of Saint-Pierre rebuilt their convent, which became in 1803 the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.

On this square was beheaded the Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars, who was a conspirator against Richelieu. During the French Revolution, the guillotine was installed and running at full speed during the tenure of Marie Joseph Chalier. After the siege of Lyon, 79 people were also beheaded. In the second half of the 19th century, access to the site was expanded to accommodate the restructuring plan of the peninsula led by Claude-Marius Vaïsse. In 1855, the passage of Terreaux was opened between the square and the Lanterne street. The prefect also planned to drill a new street in the north axis of the Palais Saint-Pierre, but this project was never realized.

At the center of the square, the municipal officials inaugurated on 22 September 1891 an allegorical fountain of the Saône, made by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. The sculpted group called Char triomphant de la Garonne represents the Garonne and its four tributaries jumping into the ocean, all of which are symbolized by a woman leading a Quadriga. After the 1889 Exposition Universelle, the monument became too expensive for the city of Bordeaux and was bought in 1890 by the Mayor of Lyon, Antoine Gailleton. The square was redeveloped in 1994 by architect and urban planner Christian Drevet and artist Daniel Buren, including an orthogonal rotation of 69 jets of water lined with 14 pillars. To build the underground parking of the square, the fountain was originally located in front of city hall, then moved to its current location in the axis of the palace Saint-Pierre.

On 29 September 1995, the square was classified as a monument historique. During the cold winter of 2012, the fountain situated in Place des Terreaux froze.

Ascent of the Grande-Côte
The rise of the Great Coast or the Grand’Côte is a path in the 1st district of Lyon which connects the district Soils in Plateau Croix Rousse, hence its name.

The more interesting architecture of the street, composed of beautiful doorways and arches, can be found in the southern part of the street. At the north of the rue Imbert Colomès, there are canut-styled buildings of the 19th century and four buildings of the 1970s. Then, before the rue des Tables Claudiennes, there are a 20th-century school and two old houses. Before the rue Burdeau, there are two-floor houses, and before the rue Leynaud, a six-floor public housing replacing houses before 1988, and a covered parking; beyond, the street is more narrow and lined with a large variety of old houses. To the east, there are old two to four-floor houses, the oldest of them built in the early 16th century.

At No. 2, there was a Roman sculpture. At No. 89-90, there was a statue of a Madonna and Child, but the child disappeared in 1902 and the Virgin five years later. At No. 100, the mullioned windows were created in the 13th century. Sidewalks were added in 1859. The houses are classified as world heritage site. The Grand’Côte gave its name to the Littré de la Grand’Côte, a dictionary about the Lyon speaking written by Nizier of Puitspelu (aka Clair Tisseur).

Place Louis-Pradel
The Louis Pradel square is a square located in the 1st district of Lyon. Recently created, it links the city center, town hall and Place des Terreaux to the banks of the Rhône. This square was pierced in the dense urban fabric of the Presqu’île during the work of the metro, by widening the rue Puits-Gaillot. The creation of this square was made necessary by the decision to run the metro through the structure of the new Morand bridge. It also provided the opportunity to build an underground car park, the Opéra car park.

Quai Saint-Vincent
The Quai Saint-Vincent is a path on the left bank of the Saône in the 1st district of Lyon, in France. Historically, it is of great importance by connecting the two oldest Lyon poles in the city center and the Vaise district. It is the seat of the immense building of Subsistances which was used for a long time by the army before becoming a place dedicated to culture. In the early 1930s, the banks of the quay were taken over by swimmers, not without opposition. At the request of the Lyon section of the League for the Recovery of Public Morality (LRMP), the mayor, Édouard Herriot, ordered a public inquiry, which concluded that the swimmers appeared “sufficiently dressed for their exercises not to wear any attack on public morals ”.

Religious heritage
Church of Saint-Bruno-les-Chartreux
This church is certainly one of the most beautiful churches in Lyon, baroque style it has a magnificent canopy by Servandoni.

Saint-Polycarpe Church
Undertaken by the Oratorians in 1665, was completed in 1670, with the exception of the facade, the work of architect Toussaint-Noël Loyer, which only dates from 1756.

Church of the Good Shepherd
This church is dedicated to the Good Shepherd, allegorical figure of Jesus, in the Gospel of Saint John and the Gospel of Saint Luke. It is characterized by its inaccessible door.

Cultural space

Amphitheater of the Three Gauls
The Amphitheater of the Three Gauls of Lugdunum (the current city of Lyon) is part of the federal sanctuary of the Three Gauls dedicated to the worship of Rome and Augustus celebrated by the sixty Gallic nations gathered in Lugdunum. The remains of the amphitheater have been classified as historical monuments since the November 27, 1961.

Fresco of the Lyonnais
The Lyonnais fresco is an 800 m 2 mural, located in Lyon, France. It represents 24 historical figures from Lyon and 6 contemporary figures. It was produced in 1994-1995 by CitéCréation.

Lyon Museum of Fine Arts
The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. Located near Place des Terreaux, it is housed in a former Benedictine convent which was active during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was restored between 1988 and 1998, remaining open to visitors throughout this time despite the restoration works. Its collections range from ancient Egyptian antiquities to the Modern art period, making the museum one of the most important in Europe. It also hosts important exhibitions of art, for example the exhibitions of works by Georges Braque and Henri Laurens in the second half of 2005, and another on the work of Théodore Géricault from April to July 2006. It is one of the largest art museums in France.

Located Place des Terreaux, near this City Hall in Lyon, the Museum of Fine Arts has a very fine collection of ancient objects and a remarkable collection of Egyptian objects that have nothing to envy to the museums of major capitals. European. The Gallo-Roman pieces are exhibited on the Fourvière hill, next to the ancient theater. The building itself is a very beautiful architectural achievement located in a former Benedictine convent, not to be missed with its refectory and its Baroque staircase. The museum garden (cloister), a haven of peace in the heart of the city, is freely accessible from Place des Terreaux or rue Édouard-Herriot.

Lyon Opera
The object of the Opéra national de Lyon is to promote lyric art and dance in Lyon and in the Rhône-Alpes region, with national and international influence, by means of permanent artistic structures consisting of an orchestra, a choir, a master’s, a ballet company and an integration studio for young professionals. The Opéra de Lyon presents more than 400 shows per season in Lyon and on tour, reaching 200,000 spectators.

It is located on Place de la Comédie, opposite the town hall. Built in 1831 by Antoine-Marie Chenavard and Jean-Marie Pollet, it was completely restructured and extended between 1989 and 1993 by Jean Nouvel. The architectural project won the Prix de l’Équerre d’argent du Moniteur in 1993. It houses a performance hall mainly assigned to the Lyon National Opera, which features operas, ballets and concerts and which can accommodate 1,100 spectators. It is the residence of the Opéra de Lyon ballet. The Opéra de Lyon, subsidized by the city of Lyon (60%), the Rhône department (10%), the Rhône-Alpes region (10%) and the State (20%), has an annual budget of around 35 million euros. In 2011, the average age of spectators was 47 years

The Subsistances
In 7 years, Les Subsistances have invented a new type of cultural place. For artists, they offer a place and a time of residence, administrative, technical and financial support adapted to each project. Les Subsistances is developing a relationship of companionship with guest artists and companies, extending the collaboration beyond the presentation of the show in support of distribution. Depending on their artistic approach, their presence varies on the site (two weeks to a month or more) or takes place in several stages from one season to another.

Les Subsistances is developing new relationships with the public. They promote confrontation, reflection, artistic practice and dialogue, inventing new forms of encounters by involving the public at each stage of creation: construction sites, debates, public rehearsals, creation Week_Ends, artistic practice workshops. Since 2007, the National School of Fine Arts of Lyon, Le Peuple de l’Herbe, Cap Canal, the “ Pôle Enfance, Art et Langages ” of the City of Lyon have been installed on the site.. By combining a training center for visual arts and a professional center for the production of performing arts, Les Subsistances is today a unique site for artistic creation in France.

The municipal library
The Municipal Library of Lyon is made up of a network of 16 libraries (the Part-Dieu Central Library and 14 libraries and 1 media library present in all districts of Lyon) and 3 bookmobiles serving either directly neighborhoods or communities for adults or children (residences for the elderly, social centers, PMIs, schools, nurseries, etc.). The missions of the “BML” are multiple. They range from the conservation and enhancement of a considerable written and graphic heritage (the most important in France after that of the BnF), to actions to promote books and reading in “sensitive” neighborhoods, through a strong lending activity (around 3.6 million loans per year), assistance for documentary research, education (especially for students and schoolchildren) and cultural events (exhibitions, conferences, reading or writing workshops, etc.).