The Bartholdi Fountain, a monumental bronze sculpture of a chariot pulled by four wild horses, acts as the center of the Place des Terreaux. The square is framed by the seventeenth-century City Hall to the east and the Museum of Fine Arts…
Presqu'île Plazas and Monuments
This walk leads you through the elegant civic heart of Lyon, where grand nineteenth-century architecture, monumental fountains, and vast public squares capture the city's sophisticated pride.
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1. Place des Terreaux
2. Hôtel de Ville de Lyon
The Hôtel de Ville de Lyon is distinguished by a massive, symmetrical facade that stretches between the Place des Terreaux and the Place de la Comédie. This structure, completed in sixteen seventy-two, features a central clock tower and…
3. Opéra National de Lyon
The Opéra National de Lyon is marked by an immense cylindrical glass vault that rises above the stone walls of a nineteenth-century theater. Built in eighteen thirty-one by architects Antoine-Marie Chenavard and Jean-Marie Pollet, the…
4. Place de la République
The Place de la République is defined by the large, rectangular water pool at its center, where multiple jets break the surface of the basin. Situated in the heart of the Presqu'île, this square emerged in the mid-nineteenth century as…
5. Place des Jacobins
The Place des Jacobins is marked by the white marble fountain at its center, designed by architect Gaspard André and inaugurated in eighteen eighty-five. This fountain features four statues honoring prominent figures from the city's…
6. Célestins, Théâtre de Lyon
The Théâtre des Célestins is recognizable by its classic Italian-style architecture, featuring a grand horseshoe-shaped auditorium finished in rich red and gold. Standing on the site of a former convent that operated from the fifteenth to…
7. Place Bellecour
Place Bellecour is a vast, open expanse covered in distinctive red sand. Spanning three hundred twelve meters by two hundred meters, it stands as the largest pedestrian square in Europe and serves as kilometer zero for all of Lyon. You can…
8. Fontaine de Place Antonin Poncet
The fountain on Place Antonin Poncet is defined by jets of water that erupt directly from the ground at varying heights. These illuminated sprays sit within a rectangular public square that stretches between the busy Place Bellecour and…