Lyon pentes Croix-Rousse, Plan de Visite

The Croix-Rousse prolongs the Peninsula to the north between the Saône and the Rhône and is composed of two distinctive quarters: the slopes and the plateau of the hill. According to literature, ths hill owes its name to a cross built in 1560 out of a yellow-purple stone from Couzon known at the time as 'pierre rousse'.

During the Restoration, from 1818 onwards, the silk industry and the large Jacquard looms transformed the economy. The silk-workers, known as the “canuts” and mainly installed at Saint-Georges or on the Peninsula, migrated to the Croix-Rousse which became 'the hill that works’ in contrast to Fourvière 'the hill that prays’. On this widely available land, buildings were constructed for the silk trade and new roads were laid; the number of inhabitants consequently jumped to 28,610 in 1852.

One cannot talk about the history of the Croix-Rousse without mentioning the Canut Revolt. In 1831, at a weak point in the textile industry, the workers demanded that their salaries, which were constantly being cut, be maintained. The Croix-Rousse weavers’ revolt, joined by weavers from the Brotteaux and the Guillotière districts, occurred from 21 to 24 November and was severely reprimanded. Another insurrection happened in April 1834, then another in 1848 called "des Voraces".