Lyon
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- This article is about the French city. For other usages, see Lyon (disambiguation) and Lyons (disambiguation).
Template:Lyon infobox Lyon (British English formerly Lyons) (pronounced in French) is a city in east central France.
Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Lyon forms the second largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, with 1,648,216 inhabitants at the 1999 census, and approximately the 20th to 25th largest metropolitan area of Western Europe.
Lyon is the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région, and the préfecture (capital) of the Rhône département.
The city gave its name to the Lyonnais province, of which it was the capital. Today the region around Lyon is still known as Lyonnais (French: le Lyonnais), or sometimes even as the Lyonnaise Region (French: Région Lyonnaise). Lyonnaise Region is an unofficial, popular name, not to be confused with the administrative région of Rhône-Alpes, which is much larger than the Lyonnaise Region.
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Administration
Lyon is the chief town of the Rhône-Alpes région, the préfecture of the Rhône département, the chief town of the arrondissement of Lyon, and the chief town of 14 cantons, covering 1 commune, and with a total population of 445,452 (1999).
History
- Main article Lugdunum.
Lyon was founded in 43 BC by the Roman Empire, who named it Lugdunum after the Celtic sun god Lugh ("shining one"). Agrippa recognized that Lugdunum's position on the natural highway from north to south-eastern France made it a natural communications hub, and he made Lyon the starting-point of the principal Roman roads throughout Gaul. The three parts of Gaul mentioned by Caesar met at Lyon. It became then the capital of the Gauls, partly thanks to its fortunate site at the convergence of navigable rivers.
Under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, the Christians in Lyon were prosecuted for their religious views. 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, Aetius, 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.
Fernand Braudel remarked, "Historians of Lyon are not sufficiently alert to 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 at 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 center of France; its new Bourse, built in 1749, still had the aspect of a public loggia, where accounts were settled in the open air. During the Renaissance the city developed due to the development of 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.
Lyon was a centre for the occupying German forces, and also a stronghold of resistance during World War II, and the town is now home to a resistance museum. (See also Klaus Barbie.) The traboules through the houses enabled the locals to escape Gestapo raids.
- Braudel, Fernand, The Perspective of the World, Vol III in Civilization and Capitalism 1984 (in French 1976).
Geography
Lyon is located at Template:Coor dm.
The Rhône and Saône rivers meet in the centre of the city, which is dominated by the two hills Fourvière and the Croix-Rousse. Fourvière, known as the hill that prays is the location for the highly decorated Notre-Dame de Fourvière basilica, several convents, the palace of the Archbishop, and a funicular. Croix-Rousse the hill that works was traditionally home to the many small silk workshops, an industry for which the city was renowned.
The Saint-Jean and the Croix-Rousse areas, which are noted for narrow passageways (traboules) that pass through buildings and link the streets either side, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998.
On the peninsula between the rivers Rhône and Saône, is the third largest public square in France, and one of the largest in Europe, the Place Bellecour. Specifically, it is the largest clear square (i.e., without any patches of greenery, trees or any other kind of obstacles) in Europe.
Culture
Lyon was an early center for printing books, and nurtured a circle of 16th century poets. For several centuries Lyon has been known as the capitals of gastronomy, fine handweaving, and the silk trade. The Lumière brothers invented cinema in the town in 1898. December 8 each year is marked by "la Fête de la Lumière" (the Festival Lights), a celebration of thanks to the Virgin Mary, who in the Middle Ages, proportedly saved the city from a deadly plague. During the event, the local population places candles in their windows and the city of Lyon organizes and projects impressive large-scale light shows onto the sides of important Lyonais monuments, such as the medival Cathédral St-Jean.
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.
Religion
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of the city holds the title "Primate of the Gauls" (Primat des Gaules) and is the leading Archbishop of France. The archdiocese dates to Roman times before Franks entered modern France (see history above).
The red vestments of the canons of Lyon are said to have given rise to red becoming the signature color of the cardinals, in a decree promulgated under Pope Innocent IV at the First Council of Lyons, 1245.
Colleges and Universities
- CPE Lyon
- École Centrale de Lyon
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
- École Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines
- École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon
- Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon
- Institut d'études politiques de Lyon
- Université Jean Moulin
- Université Claude Bernard
- Université Louis Lumière
Transportation
Airport: Saint-Exupéry International Airport
Lyon is connected to the North (Lille, Paris) and the South (Marseille, Montpellier) by the TGV. It was the first city to be connected by the TGV c.1982.
Metro: see Lyon Metro
Buildings and Structures
France_Lyon3.jpg
- Tour metallique de Fourviere, 1894
- La Mouche Cattle Market and Abbatoir, 1914, 1928, Tony Garnier, architect
- Sainte Marie de La Tourette monastary, 1960, Le Corbusier, architect
- Satolas Airport, 1975. Guillaume Gilbert, architect
- Opéra National de Lyon, renovation and expansion 1993, Jean Nouvel, architect
- Lyon Railway Station, 1994, Santiago Calatrava, architect
- Cité Internationale, 1998, Renzo Piano, architect
Miscellaneous
Born in Lyon
The long list of notable Lyonnais includes:
- Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, painter
- Henri Cochet, tennis player
- Youri Djorkaeff, football player
- Jules Favre, republican statesman
- Tony Garnier, architect and utopian planner
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviation pioneer and writer
- Marie-France Gaîté (la Gribouille), singer
- Maurice Jarre, composer
- Jean-Michel Jarre, musician
- Bishop Mathias Loras, the first Bishop of the Dubuque, Iowa Diocese.
- Louise Labée, 16th century poet
Twinning
Lyon is twinned with :
- Birmingham, England, 1951
- Guangzhou, China, 1988
- Milan, Italy, 1966
- Saint Louis, United States,1975
- Frankfurt, Germany, 1960
Musical reference
- A historical article about a 19th century flood inspired the 1979 song The Flood at Lyons by Renaissance.
External links
- Lyon town hall (http://www.mairie-lyon.fr/)
- Lyon Web (http://www.lyonweb.net/)
- Objectif Lyon (http://www.dboc.net/lyon/) Pictures and descriptions of the monuments
- Lyon City Guide (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/lyon.htm) History, photos, descriptions of churches and other sites, and travel informationbg:Лион
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