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Lyon, also known as Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English. Lyon is the second-largest French urban area, the first being Paris and the third Marseille. It is a major centre of business, situated between Paris and Marseille, and has a reputation as the French capital of gastronomy and having a significant role in the history of cinema. The local professional football team, Olympique Lyonnais, has increased the profile of Lyon internationally through participation in European football championships.
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Lyon, also known as Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English. Lyon is the second-largest French urban area, the first being Paris and the third Marseille. It is a major centre of business, situated between Paris and Marseille, and has a reputation as the French capital of gastronomy and having a significant role in the history of cinema. The local professional football team, Olympique Lyonnais, has increased the profile of Lyon internationally through participation in European football championships. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.
Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Lyon forms the second-largest metropolitan area in France after that of Paris, with a population estimated to be 1,783,400 in 2007. Its "urban region" (Région Urbaine de Lyon), represents half of the Rhône-Alpes région population with three million inhabitants. Lyon is also a major industrial center specialized in chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. There is also a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games.
Lyon is the préfecture (capital) of the Rhône département, and also the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région. The city is known for its historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lyon was historically known as the silk capital of the world. It also hosts the international headquarters of Interpol and Euronews.
History
- Main article for early history: Lugdunum.
Lyon was founded on the Fourvière hill as a Roman colony in 43 BCE by Munatius Plancus, a lieutenant of Caesar, on the site of a Gaulish hill-fort settlement called Lug[o]dunon, from the Celtic god Lugus ('Light', cognate with Old Irish Lugh, Modern Irish Lú) and dúnon (hill-fort). Lyon was first named Lugdunum meaning the "hill of lights" or "the hill of crows". Lug was equated by the Romans to Mercury.
Agrippa recognized that Lugdunum's position on the natural highway from northern to south-eastern France made it a natural communications hub, and he made Lyon the starting point of the principal Roman roads throughout Gaul. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly thanks to its convenient location at the convergence of two navigable rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in this city: Claudius and Caracalla. Today, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as "le primat des Gaules" and the city often referred to as the "capitale des Gaules".
The Christians in Lyon were persecuted for their religion under the reigns of the various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. Local saints from this period include saints such as Blandina (Blandine), Pothinus (Pothin) , and Epipodius (Épipode), among others.
The great Christian bishop of Lyon in the 2nd century was the Easterner Irenaeus.
Burgundian refugees from the destruction of Worms by Huns in 437 were resettled by the military commander of the west, Aëtius, at Lugdunum, which was formally the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom by 461.
In 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair I, and later became a part of the Kingdom of Arles. Lyon only came under French control in the fourteenth century.
Fernand Braudel remarked, Historians of Lyon are not sufficiently aware of the bi-polarity between Paris and Lyon, which is a constant structure in French development from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution (Braudel 1984 p. 327). The fairs in Lyon, the invention of Italian merchants, made it the economic countinghouse of France in the late 15th century. When international banking moved to Genoa, then Amsterdam, Lyon simply became the banking centre of France; its new Bourse (treasury), built in 1749, still resembled a public bazaar where accounts were settled in the open air. During the Renaissance, the city developed with the silk trade, especially with Italy; the Italian influence on Lyon's architecture can still be seen. Thanks to the silk trade, Lyon became an important industrial town during the 19th century.
Lyon was a scene of mass violence against Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacres in 1572.
During the French Revolution, Lyon uprose against the National Convention and supported the Girondins. In 1793, the city was under siege for over two months, assaulted by the Revolutionary armies, before eventually surrending. More than 2,000 people were executed and several buildings were destroyed, especially around the Place Bellecour. A decade later, Napoleon himself ordered the reconstruction of all the buildings demolished during this period.
The silk workers of Lyon, known as canuts, staged two major uprisings: in 1831 and 1834. The 1831 uprising saw one of the first recorded uses of the black flag as an emblem of protest. The world's first funicular railway was built between Lyon and La Croix-Rousse in 1862.
Lyon was a centre for the occupying German forces and also a stronghold of resistance during World War II, and the city is now home to a resistance museum. (See also Klaus Barbie.) The traboules, or secret passages, through the houses enabled the local people to escape Gestapo raids.
Geography
Lyon's geography is dominated by the Rhône and Saône rivers that converge to the south of the historic city center forming a peninsula or "Presqu'île"; two large hills, one to the west and one to the north of the historic city center; and a large plain which sprawls eastward from the historic city center.
To the west is Fourvière, known as "the hill that prays", the location for the highly decorated Notre-Dame de Fourvière basilica, several convents, the palace of the Archbishop, the Tour métallique (a highly visible TV tower, replicating the last stage of the Eiffel Tower) and a funicular (a railway on a steep hill).
To the north is the Croix-Rousse, "the hill that works", traditionally home to many small silk workshops, an industry for which the city was once renowned.
The original medieval city (Vieux Lyon) was built on the west bank of the Saône river at the foot of the Fourvière hill, west of the Presqu'île. (This area, along with portions of the Presqu'ile and much of the Croix-Rousse are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Place Bellecour is located on the peninsula (Presqu'île) between the rivers Rhône and Saône and is the third largest public square in France and one of the largest in Europe. Specifically, it is the largest clear square (i.e., without any patches of greenery, trees or any other kind of obstacles) in Europe. The broad, pedestrian-only Rue de la République leads north from Place Bellecour. The 2nd arrondissement has many of the finest old residential buildings in Lyon and the area is known for its concentration of old Lyonnaise Catholic families, particularly in the Ainay part of the arrondissement.
East of the Rhône from the Presqu'île is a large area of flat ground upon which sits much of modern Lyon and most of the city's population.
Situated in this area is the urban centre of Part-Dieu which clusters the former Crédit Lyonnais Tower (central France's only skyscraper), the Part-Dieu shopping centre, and one of Lyon's two major rail terminals, Lyon Part-Dieu.
North of this district is the relatively wealthy 6th arrondissement, which is home to the Parc de la Tête d'Or, one of Europe's largest urban parks, the prestigious Lycée du Parc to the south of the park, and Interpol's world headquarters on the park's western edge. The park contains a free zoo that has recently been upgraded.
Several buildings are being constructed in Part-Dieu such as the Tour Oxygène and other projects such as the Tour Incity
Climate
Climate Table | | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 6.2 | 8.4 | 12.4 | 15.3 | 20.0 | 23.5 | 27.0 | 26.7 | 22.3 | 16.7 | 10.2 | 7.1 | 16.3 |
|---|
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 0.1 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 5.6 | 9.9 | 13.1 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 11.9 | 8.4 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 7.5 |
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| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 52.9 | 50.5 | 54.8 | 72.3 | 87.8 | 80.2 | 62.0 | 69.0 | 88.3 | 94.7 | 75.1 | 55.5 | 843.1 |
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| Mean number of rain days | 9.4 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 9.5 | 11.3 | 8.8 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 10.3 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 107.5 |
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| Source: |
Administration
Lyon is the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région, the préfecture of the Rhône département, and the capital of 14 cantons, covering 1 commune, and with a total population of 488,300 (2007).
Arrondissements
Like Paris and Marseille, Lyon is divided into a number of municipal arrondissements (sometimes translated into English as boroughs), each of which is identified by a number and has its own council and town hall.
Five arrondissements were originally created in 1852, when three neighbouring communes (La Croix-Rousse, La Guillotière, and Vaise) were annexed by Lyon.
Between 1867 and 1959, the 3rd arrondissement (which originally covered the whole of the Left Bank of the Rhône) was split three times, creating a new arrondissement in each case.
Then, in 1963, the commune of Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe was annexed to Lyon's 5th arrondissement. A year later, in 1964, the 5th was split to create Lyon's 9th – and, to date, final – arrondissement.
Within each arrondissement, there are a number of recognisable quartiers or neighbourhoods:
- 1st arrdt: Pentes de la Croix-Rousse, Terreaux, Martinière/St-Vincent
- 2nd arrdt: Cordeliers, Bellecour, Ainay, Perrache, Confluent
- 3rd arrdt: Guillotière (north), Préfecture, Part-Dieu, Villette, Dauphiné/Sans Souci, Montchat, Grange Blanche (north), Monplaisir (north)
- 4th arrdt: Plateau de la Croix-Rousse, Serin
- 5th arrdt: Vieux Lyon (St-Paul, St-Jean, St-Georges), St-Just, St-Irénée, Fourvière, Point du Jour, Ménival, Battières, Champvert (south)
- 6th arrdt: Brotteaux, Bellecombe, Parc de la Tête d'Or, Cité Internationale
- 7th arrdt: Guillotière (south), Jean Macé, Gerland
- 8th arrdt: Monplaisir (south), Bachut, États-Unis, Grand Trou/Moulin à Vent, Grange Blanche (south), Laënnec, Mermoz, Monplaisir-la-Plaine
- 9th arrdt: Vaise, Duchère, Rochecardon, St-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe, Gorge de Loup, Observance, Champvert (north)
Culture
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- Since the Middle Ages, the Arpitans, residents of the region, speak several dialects of Arpitan language. The Lyonnais dialect was partly replaced by the French language as the importance of the city grew. However, it is still alive and, in addition, some "frenchified" Arpitan words can also be heard in the French of the Lyonnais, who call their little boys and girls "gones" and "fenottes" for example.
- Lyon was an early centre for printing books, and nurtured a circle of 16th century poets.
- The Lumière brothers invented cinema in the town in 1895. The Musée Lumière is there as a testimony, hosting many of their first inventions.
- December 8th each year is marked by "la Fête des lumières" (the Festival of Lights), a celebration of thanks to the Virgin Mary, who purportedly saved the city from a deadly plague in the Middle Ages. During the event, the local population places candles (lumignons) at their windows and the city of Lyon organizes impressive large-scale light shows onto the sides of important Lyonnais monuments, such as the medieval Cathédrale St-Jean.
- The church of Saint Francis of Sales is famous for its large and unaltered Cavaillé-Coll pipe organ, attracting audiences from around the world. Lyon also features a renowned opera house.
- Lyon is also the French capital of "trompe l'œil"-walls, a very ancient tradition. Many are to be seen everywhere around the city. This old tradition is now expending in a contemporary expression .
- The Brothers of the Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic congregation that operates schools in Europe and North America, was founded in Lyon in 1821.
- The African Museum of Lyon is one of the oldest museums situated in Lyon.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Saint-Jean and the Croix-Rousse areas, which are noted for their narrow passageways (traboules) that pass through buildings and link the streets either side, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998.
Gastronomy
For several centuries Lyon has been known as the French capital of gastronomy, due, in part, to the presence of many of France's finest chefs in the city and its surroundings (e.g. Paul Bocuse). This reputation also comes from the fact that two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Côtes du Rhône to the South. Beaujolais wine is very popular in Lyon and remains the most common table wine served with local dishes.
Lyon is the home of very typical and traditional restaurants: the bouchons. Bouchons are usually convivial restaurants serving local dishes, and local wines.
Lyon is famous for its morning snacks, the mâchons, made up of local charcuterie and usually accompanied by Beaujolais red wine. Traditional local dishes include saucisson de Lyon (sausage), andouillette, coq au vin, esox (pike) quenelle, gras double (tripe cooked with onions), salade lyonnaise (lettuce with bacon, croutons and a poached egg), marrons glacés and cardoon au gratin.
Main sights
These are the main sights of Lyon.
Buildings
- Place Bellecour
- Tour métallique de Fourvière (1894)
- Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
- Sainte Marie de La Tourette monastery (1960) designed by Le Corbusier
- Saint-Exupéry International Airport (formerly Satolas Airport, 1975), designed by Guillaume Gilbert.
- Opéra National de Lyon, renovated in 1993 by Jean Nouvel.
- Lyon Airport Railway Station (1994) by Santiago Calatrava.
- Cité Internationale (1998), designed by Renzo Piano.
- Cathédrale Saint-Jean
- Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.
- Basilica of St-Martin-d'Ainay.
- The church of St-Martin-d'Ainay is one of the rare surviving Romanesque basilica-style churches in Lyon.
- The doorway of St. Nizier's (fifteenth century) was carved in the sixteenth century by Philibert Delorme.
- La Mouche Cattle Market and Abbatoir (1914, 1928), designed by Tony Garnier.
- The Roman ruins on the hillside near the Fourviere Basilica, and the accompanying Gallo-Roman Museum.
- The Medieval Quarter of town, with cobbled streets, shops, and dining.
- Tour Oxygène
- Tour Incity
Parks and gardens
Colleges and universities
International schools in Lyon
There are some international schools in Lyon, including:
- Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon (private school)
-
Sport
Lyon is home to Ligue 1 football (soccer) team Olympique Lyonnais, commonly known as "Lyon" or "OL". The team has enjoyed unprecedented success recently, winning the last seven national titles and establishing themselves as France's premier football club. The captain of the side, Juninho Pernambucano is one of several Brazilians at Lyon, and he has received many awards while leading his team to unrivalled success. The team competes in the prestigious UEFA Champions League and currently plays at the impressive Stade de Gerland, where the Danone Nation's Cup is held every year. The team is set to move to a new stadium in Décines-Charpieu (in the eastern suburbs) in 2010, which will hold 67,895 people. Lyon also has a rugby union team, Lyon OU, currently playing in division 2, Rugby Pro D2. In addition, Lyon has a rugby league side: Lyon Villeurbanne Rhône XIII, or LVR XIII, play in the French rugby league championship. The club's current home ground is Stade Georges Lyvet in Villeurbanne. Lyon is also home to the Lyon Hockey Club, an ice hockey team that competes in France's national ice hockey league. Finally, Villeurbanne also has a renowned basketball team, ASVEL, who play at the Astroballe arena in Cusset.
Transport
Air
The Saint-Exupéry International Airport is located to the east of Lyon, and serves as a base for regional and international flights. It is also directly connected to the TGV network with its own station Gare de Lyon Saint-Exupéry. Aéroport de Lyon-Bron is a smaller local airport to the east of the city center.
The Other Lyon's Airport called Lyon Bron is reservated for the affairs.
Rail
Lyon is connected to the north (Lille, Paris, Brussels) and the south (Marseille, Montpellier) by the TGV. It was the first city to be connected to Paris by the TGV in 1981.
Lyon has two major railway stations: Lyon Part-Dieu, which was built to accommodate the TGV and has become the principal railway station for extra-regional trains; and Lyon Perrache, which is an older station that now primarily serves regional rail services. In practice, many trains, including TGVs, serve both stations. Smaller railway stations include Gorge de Loup, Vaise, Vénissieux, and St-Paul.
Road
The City is at the heart of a dense road network and is located at the meeting point of several highways: A6 (to Paris), A7 (to Marseille), A42 (to Geneve), A43 (to Grenoble). The city is now bypassed by the A46.
Intercity coach
Lyon is served by the Eurolines intercity coach organisation. Its Lyon terminal is located at the city's Perrache railway station, which serves as an intermodal transportation hub that also includes tramways, local and regional trains and busses, the terminus of metro line A, the bicycle service Vélo'v, taxis, and high-speed TGV trains.
Public transport
The TCL (French: Transports en Commun Lyonnais), Lyon's public transport system, consisting of metros, buses and trams, serves 62 communes of the Lyon agglomeration. The metro system has 4 lines, 39 stations and runs with a frequency of up to a metro every 2 minutes. The bus system consists of normal buses, trolleybuses and coaches for areas outside the centre, but which operate on the same ticketing scheme. There are three tram lines since December 2006: T1 from Montrochet in the south to IUT-Feyssine in the north, Tram T2 from Perrache railway station in the southwest to Saint-Priest in the southeast, and Tram T3 from Part-Dieu to Meyzieu. There is also two funicular lines.
The public transit system is complemented by Vélo'v, a bicycle network providing a low cost and convenient bicycle hire service where bicycles can be hired and dropped off at any of 340 stations throughout the city. Borrowing a bicycle for less than 30 minutes is free.
People from Lyon
Movies in Lyon
- 1895: 14 vues Lumière filmées à Lyon entre 1895 et 1900 par Auguste et Louis Lumière.
- 1946: Un revenant de Christian-Jaque, avec Louis Jouvet, Gaby Morlay, François Périer, Marguerite Moreno, Ludmila Tcherina, Louis Seigner.
- 1953: Thérèse Raquin, réalisé par Marcel Carné, avec Simone Signoret, Raf Vallone et Jacques Duby.
- 1956: Un condamné à mort s'est échappé de Robert Bresson
- 1966: Le Voyage du père de Denys de la Patellière.
- 1969: L'Armée des ombres de Jean-Pierre Melville
- 1974: L'Horloger de Saint-Paul, de Bertrand Tavernier.
- 1974: Verdict, d'André Cayatte.
- 1980: Une semaine de vacances, de Bertrand Tavernier.
- 1981: Le Voyage à Lyon de Claudia von Aleman.
- 1985: Parole de flic, de José Pinheiro avec Alain Delon.
- 1993: Un crime, de Jacques Deray.
- 1994: Lucie Aubrac, de Claude Berri.
- 1996: Les Voleurs, d'André Téchiné.
- 1998: Le Gone du Chaâba, de Christophe Ruggia, d'après le roman d'Azouz Begag.
- 2000: Lyon police spéciale, de Bertrand Arthuys.
- 2000: Tout va bien, on s'en va, de Claude Mouriéras.
- 2000: Une affaire de goût, de Bernard Rapp.
- 2002: Inventaire filmé des rues de la Croix-Rousse à Lyon, de Gérard Courant
- 2002: Quand tu descendras du ciel de Éric Guirado.
- 2003: Le Coût de la vie, de Philippe Le Guay.
- 2004: Vaada, de Satish Kaushik, film de Bollywood.
- 2005: Destination Fourvière, de Gérard Courant.
- 2007: Après Lui, de Gaël Morel.
- 2007: Détrompez-vous
- 2007: J'veux pas que tu t'en ailles, de Bernard Jeanjean.
- 2007: La fille coupée en deux, de Claude Chabrol.
- 2008: Les Liens du sang, de Jacques Maillot.
Other
Twin Towns - Sister Cities
Lyon is twinned with:
Cultural references
- The city figures in the play The Lyons Mail by Charles Reade, which was adapted into a film in 1931.
- Lyon in the year 1656 is described by Samuel Chappuzeau in his book Lyon dans son lustre.
- A historical article about a 19th century flood inspired the 1979 song "The Flood at Lyons" by the rock band Renaissance.
- In the Marillion song "Bitter Suite" from Misplaced Childhood there is a reference to Lyon. The line is: "The sky was bible black in Lyons, when I met the Magdalene."
- Morrissey, former singer with The Smiths, briefly mentions Lyon in the 2006 song "Christian Dior," the B-side to "In The Future When All's Well".
- Lyon is the name of a multi-player level in the real-time strategy game Company of Heroes.
- In the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the character Revolver Ocelot has gone through an arm transplant in Lyon, as revealed in one of the dialogs.
The lion is a common sight in Lyon:
Image:Lyon lion door knocker.jpg |A lion door knocker in Lyon
Image:Lyon lion maison des avocats.jpg |The lion at Maison des Avocats
Image:Lyon lion Parc de la Tête d'Or.jpg |A real lion in the Parc de la Tête d'Or
Image:Lyon lions Gare Part-Dieu.jpg |Sculpture of lions at the Gare Part-Dieu
Image:Blason ville fr Lyon (Rhone).svg |The lion on the seal of Lyon
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