A Guided Tour of the Saint-Just and Saint-Irénée Neighborhoods in Lyon

SAINT-JUST SAINT-IRENÉE NEIGHBORHOODS

The top of the hill is divided into three main quarters: Fourvière, Saint-Just and Saint-Irénée, and Montauban. Monuments from the Roman period, at the archeological site and the Gallo-roman museum, can be found here as well as religious monuments of the XVI and XVIII centuries, several churches, a crucifix and a basilica. This is the reason why Fourvière is called ‘the hill that prays’.

In the year 43 BC the hill of Fourvière was the birthplace of a Roman colony which slowly evolved towards the Saône river and the Peninsula.

There are still some medieval houses and narrow roads left over from the Middle Ages towards the top (west) of the rue des Macchabées.

Convent building from the XVI to XVIII centuries contributed to the interesting number of monuments that are part of the “hill that prays”.

FONTAINE, RUE DE TRION

The limestone fountain of Gallo-Roman inspiration called Trion or Farges street pump, at 8 rue de Trion, was installed in 1836 to provide water for the neighbourhood. It was designed by the architect René Darel who also created the fountain in the Place Saint-Jean.

VESTIGES DES FORTIFICATIONS DE LYON

At the bottom of the Montée du Télégraphe, on the left, are the remains of the Retraite rampart which dates back to the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries.

There are also ruins of the fortified wall built between 1842 and 1848 during the fortifications of Lyon by the General Rohault de Fleury. Now go up the Montée du Télégraphe in the north-west direction.

JARDINS DE LA VISITATION

You are in the gardens of the Visitation which were designed following a regular pattern and form the image of typical small French gardens. They are linked to the sites of the Roman amphitheatres by a wooded path. Turn right to go to the old convent of the Visitation.

ANCIEN MONASTÈRE DE LA VISITATION

The Sisters of the Order of the Visitation, created in 1610 by François de Sales, moved to Lyon in 1615. They acquired their plot of land in 1850 from the Carmelite community and chose the architect Pierre Bossan for the convent. The buildings’ foundations were laid in 1854; the community moved in in 1856 although the buildings were not completed until two years later.

The site is now part of a beautiful realization that keeps the building and integrates the Fourviere Hotel. To continue the tour, exit north through the portal on Rue Radisson and take Rue Pauline Jaricot just opposite.

MUR PEINT DE LA SARRA

As you move along Rue Pauline-Marie Jaricot, you can see in the middle, on the east side of the Sarra residence – built by SACVEL (City of Lyon Construction Public Limited Company) – the three main U facades which combined show a painted wall of 3,000 square metres: the largest trompe l'oeil in Europe painted in 2003 by the world's leading painted walls company, a Lyon company: CitéCréation.

You can now resume Rue Jaricot northbound. Continue to the end of the street where you will find on your right, in the east, the access to the Parc des Hauteurs which leads to Fourvière.

CIMETIÈRE DE LOYASSE

You are now in front of the Loyasse cemetery, the oldest in Lyon which, opened in 1808, replaced the old parish cemeteries of before the Revolution. For over a century, this was the cemetery for the Lyon bourgeoisie and even today it retains this aura. You will not find a lot of sculptures.

The impression of simplicity is emphasised by the importance of the neo-antique architecture and the ornamentation that accompanies it: temples, pyramids, tomb stones demonstrate the importance of classical art in Napoleonic France and in Lyon in particular. The trail continues to Rue Cardinal Gerlier in the southwest.

VESTIGES DE L'AQUEDUC DU GIER

At the beginning of Rue Radisson you can see the remains of the Gier aqueduct. It stretched along 86 km, through 11 tunnels, over 50 bridges and rows of arches that carried the channel and it had four traps, a unique feature. The aqueduct begun at the Gier dam in Saint-Chamond (Loire), 400 m above sea level and, after various topographic difficulties at its start, it could carry 15,000 cube metres of tap water a day to the highest point of the city (Fourvière).

It was the longest of the four city aqueducts and the one whose structures are best preserved. It has been a historical monument since March 1912. As you continue the tour you will see the old fortifications of Lyon.

LE CAFÉ DE LA TERRASSE

The Café de la Terrasse, still active, has been known by this name since the early nineteenth century. Originally it had a private terrace which was later reduced by road works. Some argue that in the early twentieth century Chinese lessons were given here but this café has no link with the Franco-Chinese shop / restaurant that existed on Place Saint-Irénée at that time.

Now go to the Fountaine de Claude on the mound in the middle of the square.

LA FONTAINE DE CLAUDE

Re-installed here in 1992, the fountain consists of a rectangular bowl that measures three metres by three and is formed of large slabs of Bugey limestone and a pillar surmounted by a capital with the inscription CLAVD(ius) AVG(ustus) which designates the emperor Claudius born in Lyon in 10 BC. Now take Chemin de Choulans in the south.

ANCIEN HÔPITAL DE TRION

At the corner of Chemin de Choulans and Rue des Anges stands the old TrionSaint-Just hospital, now used as a school. Throughout the medieval period, this hospital served the Choulans district; in 1740 it became a city toll office which was suppressed by the mayor Augagneur in 1905. Now continue the tour on Rue des Anges up to the house Cercle Saint-Irénée on your right.

MAISON DU CERCLE SAINT-IRÉNÉE

This old house was acquired in 1766 by an association of artisans of religious inspiration, the ‘Brothers’ League of Tailors of clothes for the men of the city of Lyon’. After the dissolution of the association in 1777 the house had different owners and was donated in 1824 to the ‘Brothers of the Christian Schools’.

Already present since 1873, the ‘Catholic Circle of St. Irenaeus’ is the present owner since 1884. Continue the tour towards Rue des Chevaucheurs.

VESTIGES DE L'AQUEDUC DU GIER

Here are the remains of the Gier aqueduct (86 km, 11 tunnels, 50 bridges and arches which comes from Saint-Chamond in the Loire). Continue walking in the student residence where you are until you come to the Franco-Chinese Institute Museum.

INSTITUT FRANCO-CHINOIS

You are now at the Franco-Chinese Institute Museum. In 1920 Lyon opened the only Chinese university outside China: from 1920 to 1946 the Franco-Chinese Institute of Lyon hosted 473 Chinese students including 11% of women.

To visit the exhibition at the Institute, with its archival photos (text in French and Chinese) : open from Tuesday to aturday from 10 am to 6 pm. Now retrace your tracks back towards the gate of Fort Saint-Irénée.

FORT SAINT-IRÉNÉE

Fort Saint-Irénée, built 1831-1841, was made available to the University of Lyon which set up the Franco-Chinese Institute; between 1921 and 1946 it prepared 473 Chinese students for graduate studies in Lyon of whom 118 defended doctoral theses.

Above the entrance porch of the fort, you will see an inscription in French with its translation in Chinese ideograms, a testimony of this unique educational experience in the West. On leaving the fort, turn left and cross the intersection to get to the old Chinese shop-restaurant at the corner of the street.

ANCIEN RESTAURANT COMPTOIR CHINOIS

You are now in front of the former Chinese shop-restaurant, a popular place at the time of the Franco-Chinese Institute. Continue the tour straight on to Place Saint-Irénée.

MAISON DIOCÉSAINE

You are in the south-east of the Place Saint-Irénée in front of the Diocesan House. The esplanade offers a beautiful view of the classical façade of this big house that the Génovéfains canons had built for them in 1748 by the architect Loyer and according to Soufflot’s plans.

This house, sold in 1791 as a national asset, was bought back in 1813 by the Sisters of Refuge in order to establish a home for needy girls. The house is now occupied by the Diocese and RCF (Christian Radios of France). To continue the tour, go to the Saint-Irénée church next to the Diocesan House.

ÉGLISE SAINT-IRÉNÉE ET SA CRYPTE

The Saint-Irénée church is open daily from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm.: illustrated panels allow for auto-visits. The crypt is open every Saturday, except in August, from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Guided group tours are available on request.

The church is built on an important Gallo-Roman necropolis where the two martyrs, Alexander and Epipode, were buried in 178 according to tradition. The crypt housed their remains and those of St. Irénée, second Bishop of Lyon after the martyrdom of Pothin in 177. Access to Calvary is on the left of the church.

CALVAIRE

This calvary looking over the gardens of the Diocesan House has dominated the city for three centuries. Under the Ancien Régime it constituted the final stage of an urban pathway of holy crosses that started at the Sainte-Croix church, near St. John's Cathedral, and was a reference point for the various places of worship along the way.

This is a very rare specimen of a city calvary in the world. For the rest of the tour, take the Rue Vide-Bourse out of the enclosure.

IMMEUBLES, 52 AU 48 RUE DES MACCHABÉES

When you go back to Rue des Machabées on your left (northeast) you will find a first group of small and very well preserved medieval houses. In this part of the street hostels and shops were numerous. The tour continues down the street.

IMMEUBLES, 44 AU 40 RUE DES MACCHABÉES

Continuing down Rue des Machabées, you will find on the left again a second group of small remarkable medieval houses. In this area, in the late seventeenth century, stalls and inns took the name of '(crowned) Beef', 'Golden Lion', 'The Fountain of Gold', '(red) Apple', 'The Dolphin' or 'The Ecu’. Continue until you cross the Chemin de Choulans.

MAUSOLÉES

The three mausoleums now installed on the Eugene Wernert square are part of a set of ten tombs that were discovered during the construction of the Vaugneray railway in 1885 at Trion square, at the foot of the slope of the bastion.

Among the three shrines, that were dismantled and rebuilt at the time, the most interesting one is undoubtedly that of harsh Quintus Calvius Turpio. Now go up the Choulans path until you cross Rue des Machabées on your right.

MAISONS, 19 RUE DES MACCHABÉES

You are at the home of Obéancier, the oldest house in Saint-Just, which spreads from No. 17 to ter 21. It became an inn, Boeuf Couronné, in the early seventeenth century and has a Bellièvre tower hidden away inside No. 19b.

FONTAINE DU TAUROBOLE

Beside the Obéancier House is the Taurobole fountain which was in fact the old well of the cloister of Saint-Just in the thirteenth century and was transformed into a fountain in the nineteenth century by Flacheron. It was raised in 1828 on the site of the old Chapter well.

The marble base depicting the head of a bull adorned for sacrifice has long been considered the reuse of an ancient tauroboly altar from the Cybele cult. Now go straight to discover the painted wall and the remains of the cloister of Saint-Just.

MUR PEINT ET VESTIGES DU CLOÎTRE DE SAINT-JUST

Enjoy the painted wall which reproduces a scenography from 1550 representing the Chapter buildings where the Pope Innocent IV lodged in 1245. Towards the bottom of the hill are the remains of the old Saint-Just church, visible in part by sets of stones on the surface. Now go straight then turn left at the crossroads of Rue de Trion / Rue des Farges.