Traboules, Bouchons, and Frescoes

By way of background, Lyon is located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, at the confluence of the Saône and the Rhône Rivers.  The city is dominated by two hills: Fourvière to the west and Croix-Rousse to the east.  The long history of Lyon, which was founded by the Romans in the 1st century B.C. as the capital of the Three Gauls, has continued to play a major role in Europe's political, cultural and economic development ever since.  That heritage is vividly illustrated by its urban fabric and the many fine historic buildings from all periods.  The centre of Lyon including Vieux Lyon, Presque'Ile and Croix-Rousse has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Thursday, we did a 3 hour walking tour and it was one of the best I have ever taken.  We got to learn so much about the history and culture of this amazing city.  If you ever plan to come here, check out M&T Lyon Tours.  Our guide, Toni, was entertaining, knowledgeable and personable.  What more could you ask!

Our tour started at the Bertholdi Fountain in Place des Terreaux.  Bertholdi who was born in Colmar in Alsace also sculpted the Statue of Liberty.  The Hotel de Ville which is also in this square was designed by the same architect who designed Versailles (Mansard).  It is a very impressive building.

Toni explained that, in this part of Lyon, most of the buildings date from the Renaissance.  We left the square and headed over the pedestrian to Vieux Lyon.  At the end of the bridge there is a statue called The Weight of Oneself.  

On the opposite bank of the river (where we had just come from), there is a hill where the silk workers were housed in the late 1700s and 1800s.  One of the houses there is nicknamed the The House of 365 Windows.  This house is surrounded by Place Rouville and Rue Flesselles, Rue Rivet and Rue Prunelle. It was built by Mr. Brunet, from Savoie, in around 1810.  The Canut (silk workers) uprising in the Croix-Rousse in November 1831 earned it the nickname of “Forteresse du Peuple”.  Our guide told us it is also known as 'the calendar house" because it was built having 365 windows (days of the year), 52 rooms with chimneys (weeks of the year), 12 floors (months of the year) and 4 entrances representing the 4 seasons. 

The "Calendar House" - upper building in the photo

As we walked into the Old Town, Toni explained that this part of the city is from the middle ages – pre-Renaissance.  Apparently, in the 1970s, there was a plan to demolish this part of the city.  It even got to a point where the people had been moved out and the destruction was imminent.  The day it was supposed to start, the French Minister of Culture arrived and stopped the demolition.  We walked along the Rue Juiverie, named because of the Jews who lived there, starting at Gare St. Paul.  Apparently, there are three sections to Vieus Lyon:  Saint Paul, Saint Jean, and Saint Georges.  (Sadly, Toni said, no Saint Ringo).  At least it was a way to easily remember the names.  

Toni pointed out various buildings and took us into courtyards all of which were inspired by the Italians who lived there pre-Renaissance.  This part of the city, however, dates back to the 1400s and 1500s.  You can see the Italian influence in much of the architecture here including the height of some of the tours which were built as a sort of competition to see who could prove they were the richest.  Many of the buildings were adorned with statues of cats.  They were purported supposed to ward off rats associated with the plague.  Toni took us into a number of hidden courtyards in these houses formerly owned by Italians but which are now apartments.  

Lyon's oldest wine bar

We also got to see some of Lyon’s famous traboules. These passages provide the fastest way to go from one street to another.  The word, traboule, comes from the Latin, transambulare, which means to cross. In addition to their usefulness, the traboules have become over time a real tourist attraction.  There are more than 300 of these passages throughout the city, mainly in the districts of Croix-Rousse and Vieux-Lyon.  The first traboules, built in the 4th century, were used by the inhabitants to supply themselves with water.  Others date from the Renaissance when they were used to move silk through the city to the river for shipping without being ruined by the rain.  They also rendered great services to the population during the 2nd world war, particularly to the Maquis (members of the Resistance) which used them to exchange messages and hide arms and munitions.  Our guide took us through several of these passages while we were in Vieux Lyon. Some of these passages are private but other are public.  The trick is knowing how to find them as they are behind large doors and not marked particularly clearly.

Along another street, we stopped in at a silk store.  Silk has played an important role in Lyon since the Italians brought it here during the Renaissance.  A lot of the workers here were silk weavers and worked in this part of Lyon.  All that changed when M. Jacquard developed a weaving loom that could be “programmed” using something like punch cards which would determine the pattern of the weaving.  The problem was that it was so tall that it couldn't be housed in the buildings in this part of the city.  Therefore, new buildings were constructed on Croix-Rousse on the other side of the river with higher ceilings to accommodate these much bigger looms.  Some of the workers were also subsequently displaced as fewer workers were needed with this innovation.  There were conflicts between the workers and the owners because of the poor working conditions and poor pay. The Canut Revolts is the collective name for the major revolts by Lyonnais silk workers (French: canuts) which occurred in 1831, 1834 and 1848.  They were among the first well-defined worker uprisings of the Industrial Revolution. 

While we were visiting the silk shop, the store owner was on site and he gave us a very informative talk about silkworms and the industry here.  We got to see the worms and learn about how silk is produced.  When you realize how many worms it takes to make the threads, you can understand better why silk is so expensive.  Some of the materials and scarves were spectacular with really vibrant colours.  

This scarf depicts Lyon in amazing colours

Further along, on Rue de Boeuf, there are more Michelin-starred restaurants here than on any other street in France.  Don’t think we will be eating in any of them, however.  From there, we made our way to the funicular station for the ride which took us up to Fourvière where the Basilica is located along with a tower resembling the top of the Eiffel tower.  At one time the latter was publicly owned so you could visit the top of it.  However, it is now private although also used as a communications tower. 

Our first stop on the hill was the site of the Roman ruins.  Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern: Lyon) was an important Roman city in Gaul.  Due to its strategic position, the city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus and served as the capital of the Roman province, Gallia Lugdunensis.  You could see the amphitheatre which can hold up to 8,000 people and is still used today for concerts.  It was built around 15 BC.  Toni told us the Romans built an aquaduct that was 57 km to bring water to the city.  Because the "barbarians" destroyed the aquaduct when they attacked the city, the residents were forced to move down the hill to be closer to the water source from the two rivers (Saone and Rhone).  The ruins were pretty impressive.  

From there we walked to the Basilica and spent some time there admiring the exterior and spectacular mosaics inside.  The residents on this hill are all related to the clergy.  There are no private residences here.  

We were told that the Lyonnaise say that on Fourvière, the people pray but on the other hill (Croix Rousse), the people work.  From the belvedere behind the church, there is an amazing view of Lyon.  We then walked down the hill to Rue de Boeuf where our tour finished.  It had been a great 3 hours.

We had next planned to take the vaporetto to Vaise from Confluence where we were.  Vaise is where the two rivers (Rhone and Saone) come together.  However, we got there on schedule and waited about 10 minutes after the boat was supposed to arrive and it didn’t so we gave up on that idea.  Instead, we made for one of the bridges over the river as we wanted to see some of the Lyon’s painted buildings.  Lyon has become famous for these huge murals or frescoes painted in the trompe l'oeil style.  Many depict historical events or famous people or mundane moments of everyday life.  As of now, there are more than 150 murals across Lyon.  The most famous ones are in the Croix Rousse and Presque’Ile districts.  We visited several on Presque’Ile including one which had windows honouring many of Lyon’s famous residents including the Lumiere brothers (famous for inventing moving pictures) and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince.  

Later, after a well-deserved rest (I'd walked over 18,000 steps at that point with more to do) we went out for dinner to another bouchon.  If there is a Lyon gastronomic tradition, it is the bouchon, cozy restaurants in the old quarters where you come to taste regional wines and local cuisine such as pike quenelles, andouillette, and sausage in a Beaujolais sauce.  The tradition of bouchons came from small inns visited by silk workers passing through Lyon in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  According to some sources, this name derives from the 16th century expression for a bunch of twisted straw.  A representation of such bundles began to appear on signs to designate the restaurants and, by association, the restaurants themselves became known as bouchons because of the cork-shaped sign.  Today, you can tell the "true" bouchons - and there are plenty using the bouchon name - only if the restaurant displays a specific sign.

We had had a very long - and educational day - so headed back to the hotel around 9.  The Basilica looked spectacular in the dark, as did the theatre near our hotel.