A Guided Tour of Ainay in Lyon

RUE AUGUSTE COMTE

In replacement of Saint-Joseph, the name of the philosopher was given to this street in 1905 at the time of the separation of Church and the State. It is a busy shopping street, mainly dedicated to antique shops. Stop at the hotel Varey, at No. 2, built by the architect Toussaint Loyer in 1758 for the Dervieu family, the lords of Villard and Varey, advisers to the money court of Lyon. Now admire the building at No. 7: facade, balcony, ironwork. After that take Rue François Dauphin on your left.

RUE FRANCOIS DAUPHIN

This seventeenth-century street has carried the name of the son of Francis I since 1838. Legend says he was poisoned by a lord of his suite, Count Montecuccoli, who was stationed not far away. It has also been called Sphere Street (from the Roman spinning game). Observe the old houses of the street as you walk towards Rue de la Charité, especially No. 11, a seventeenth-century private hotel for the administrator with a beautiful double staircase in the courtyard garden.

RUE DE LA CHARITÉ

Turn right on to the southern end of Rue de la Charité which leads to Rue Sala. Rue de la Charité took its name in the seventeenth century after the creation of the Charité hospital, located on the Place Antonin Poncet, of which only the tower remains today.

The road was extended in 1728 and 1772 and underwent very few changes, despite alignment projects, in the nineteenth century. Many houses of the old regime are indeed still present and only the part between the Sala Street and Place Bellecour is modern. Now turn right towards the west and Rue Sala.

RUE SALA

This is one of the oldest roads of the district, probably built on a Gallo-Roman path. The street takes its name from Francis Sala Montjustin, husband of Claudine Laurencin, widow of Du Peyrat, who established a small residential area in the sixteenth century called Villeneuve le Plat in the area west of Place Bellecour. It was the start of the current Ainay neighbourhood. The street was opened in 1504. Continue your visit to Rue Auguste Comte.

RUE VICTOR HUGO

Take a left towards the south of Rue Victor Hugo which was designed by Perrache at the end of the eighteenth century then developed in the nineteenth century, with the arrival of the railroad, to liaise between Place Bellecour and Perrache station. Formerly Bourbon Street, it has borne the name of the famous author since 1885. The buildings at the Place Bellecour end are the newest whereas those near Place Carnot date from the early nineteenth century, between 1817 and 1843.

This street was very fashionable in the nineteenth century thanks to its bourgeois luxurious buildings, its width and its proximity to squares and places for walks. By the way, notice the building at No.14, its bay frames and door.

RUE SALA

Turn right on to Sala Street. This street was opened in the sixteenth century by Claudine Laurencin, wife of Francis Sala Montjustin and has kept the name Rue Sala since 1743. This is a beautiful street which housed, in the eighteenth century, a number of convents and monasteries.

For example Nos. 26 and 28 were part of the Monastery of the Visitation; Nos. 20 and 22 were part of the abbey of Saint-Claire.

RUE BOISSAC

Now go to Boissac Street on your right. This is the only seventeenth-century street in the district still largely intact: the alignment and extension projects of the nineteenth were never realised.

Go to No. 8: you are facing the hotel Fleurieu Claret de la Tourette. The facade has not changed since its inception. To continue the tour, return to Sala Street.

RUE SAINT-FRANÇOIS DE SALES

This seventeenth century street bears the name of St. Francis de Sales who was the founder of the Monastery of the Visitation at Place Bellecour in 1615. He died in 1622 but Lyon kept only his heart; his body was claimed by his native Savoie.

RUE SAINTE-HÉLÈNE

Take a left and go east towards Rue Ste. Helene, mother of the Emperor, Constantine the Great. As a Christian, it is said that she convinced her son to convert to Christianity.

The street leads to the Quai Gailleton and ends at Place Gailleton with its statue of Gailleton, mayor of Lyon (1881-1900). Stop especially at Nos. 34 and 35.

PLACE GAILLETON

Created by the engineer Perrache, Place Gailleton is bordered on the north and south by neoclassical facades of the eighteenth century. The square celebrates the mayor Antoine Gailleton (1881-1900), for whom a monument was created in 1913.

The site was revamped in 2002 with the addition of flower beds, a fountain and lights in the water. Continue through the Fleurieu street to come to the Textile Museum.

RUE DE FLEURIEU

This street is dedicated to the Fleurieu family and especially to the sailor, Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu. The wall on the east side of this pathway is a remnant of the ancient city wall from the Middle-Ages which overlooked an arm of the Rhone. Continue till you come face-to-face with the Textile Museum, Rue de la Charité.

RUE VICTOR HUGO

Take Rue Victor Hugo towards the south, a pedestrian street lined with bourgeois and commercial buildings, to Place Ampère.

RUE DES REMPARTS D'AINAY

On your left is Rue des Remparts d'Ainay, early nineteenth-century, on the site of the city walls. Longitude/Latitude: 4.829413/45.753213 22 - Place Ampere - On your right is the Place Ampère with its fountain around a bronze statue of the Lyon physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836) made by the sculptor Charles Textor.

The square is at the heart of the Ainay neighborhood, home to the great Lyon dynasties. On your walk, admire the facade of No. 8, the decorations and ironwork.

PLACE AMPÈRE

On your right is the Place Ampère with its fountain around a bronze statue of the Lyon physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836) made by the sculptor Charles Textor. The square is at the heart of the Ainay neighborhood, home to the great Lyon dynasties. On your walk, admire the facade of No. 8, the decorations and ironwork.

RUE VICTOR HUGO

Continue along Rue Victor Hugo and observe the building at No. 50 (facade, doorway, ... ), the Maurix house at No. 52, and on to Place Carnot in the south.

PLACE CARNOT

This rectangular square, whose design dates back to the Perrache project, is linked to the creation of the station. It bears the name of President Sadi Carnot. There is a public garden in the centre - revamped at the opening of the metro A line - and a statue of the Republic - erected for the centennial of the French Revolution - standing on a 11-meters high pedestal and holding an olive branch.

A set of stately buildings border the square with beautiful ornate facades. Unfortunately the square was amputated of its southern end during the extension of the Perrache station.

RUE HENRI IV

King Henry IV came to Lyon in 1564, with Charles IX in 1595 after the annexation of the city, and in 1600 for his marriage to Marie de Medici in the Cathedral of St. John: this nineteenth-century street pays tribute to him. Note the nineteenth-century buildings and in particular that of No. 14. Stop before the Adoration Chapel at No. 12.

RUE BOURGELAT

This street was also called Rue du Manege. Claude Bourgelat was born in Lyon in 1712. After a career as a lawyer, he dedicated his life to horses, first as director of the riding academy, then he founded the first veterinary school in the world in 1762 at Guillotière.

This school is now at Marcy l'Etoile but before then it occupied the magnificent buildings on Quai Chauveau that now house the National Conservatory of Music. Stop at No. 19 of the Bourgelat Street: the painted garage entrance evokes a map of Lyon in the eighteenth century. Note also the Meyrieux Hotel at No. 17: this beautiful mansion is the historical seat of the Marcel Meyrieux Foundation.

INTÉRIEUR DE LA BASILIQUE SAINT-MARTIN D'AINAY

The three double colonnaded naves, the barrel vaulted transept arches, the powerful columns in Egyptian syenite and the large semi-circular apse were added in the early twelfth century. Now take Rue d'Enghien.
Out, take Rue d'Enghien.

RUE D'ENGHIEN

This early nineteenth-century street was named after the Duke of Enghien, Louis-Antoine-Henri de Condé, born in Chantilly in 1772 and shot on the orders of Bonaparte in 1804. Admire the beautiful nineteenth- and early twentieth-century buildings and the Town Hall of the 2 nd district at No. 2.

RUE FRANKLIN

The street is named after Benjamin Franklin, statesman, physicist, philosopher and publicist born in Boston in 1706. This street also bore the name of Queen Street and Concord in the nineteenth century. Note the angle statue. Look at No. 10: on the door frame, you will see the faces of Louise Labe and Philibert de L'Orme. Pick up Rue d’Enghien and turn right at Rue de Castries.

RUE DE CASTRIES

This early nineteenth century street, overlooking the Saône, is dedicated to the Duke Augustin de Castries, lieutenant general of the King in the provinces of Lyonnais, Forez and Beaujolais in 1787. Nineteenth century houses with beautiful facades and remarkable doors. Stop at No. 10.

QUAI MARÉCHAL JOFFRE

This wharf, relatively short and previously called West Pier, was constructed in 1820. Since 1931 it has been dedicated to Marshal Joseph Joffre, commander of the French army from 1914 to 1918 who won the Battle of the Marne. It is lined with beautiful buildings majestically overlooking the Saône. Carry on up the dock towards the north to continue the tour.

PLACE D'AINAY

This square with old houses is actually a relatively short T extension of the Rue de l'Abbaye d'Ainay, just in front of the abbey. Until the late eighteenth century, this place was an island that was gradually attached to the Peninsula.

RUE VAUBECOUR

This street was created on land donated by Father Ainay in 1728 and communicated with the dock via the Voûte d’Ainay (XVIII century) itself on the site of an ancient abbey wall gate that overlooked the old Ainay bridge. The street takes its name from Haussonville de Vaubecour, abbot who in 1728 sold land to a promoter with the intention of property development and the opening of the street.

The street first bore the name of St. Martin. Go north and take the alley of nineteenth century houses up to Place Antoine Vollon.

PLACE ANTOINE VOLLON

Dating back to 1728 and formerly Place Saint-Michel, this square is dedicated to Lyon stilllife painter born in 1833 at No. 4 It is decorated with a pretty fountain with cherubs and a basin created by Lanfrey and Baud in 1857.

Admire the façade of the building at No. 2: majestic style, foundations, bays. Then take Rue Guynemer on the left back towards the Saone.

RUE GUYNEMER

First called St. Clair (name of a convent), this old street was dedicated in 1917 to the famous aviator Georges Guynemer (1894-1917). Take Rue Joannes Drevet to reach the Tilsit dock.

RUE JOANNES DREVET

This short seventh-century street was first called Sainte-Colombe then in 1942 it was dedicated to John-Baptiste Drevet, called Joannès, who was a painter and etcher (1854-1940). His studio was in this street. Turn right on the dock towards the north.

QUAI TILSITT

Formerly Quai de l'Arsenal and finished in 1828, this dock took its current name in 1868 in memory of the treaty concluded between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I in 1807 in Tilsit, a small town in East Prussia. Going up the Saône you will discover beautiful buildings as you come to Rue Antoine de Saint Exupéry: Note at No. 21 the Louvier building on the northern corner of the wharf and Rue Clotilde Bizolon.

RUE ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPÉRY

This nineteenth-century street was called St. Louis-Alphonse-Anne Fochier. Since 2000 it is dedicated to the famous author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) born in Lyon at No. 9 of this street. A statue of the Little Prince was installed in Place Bellecour to honour the writer. Walk along the street and see buildings like No. 7, listed as a historical monument. Continue on the same pavement.

PLACE BELLECOUR

On the south side of the square, before you find yourself back at the Office de Tourisme du Grand Lyon, look at the buildings No. 31, 30a, 30, 28, 27 and 26, all listed as historical monuments. The visit ends here and we thank you for your interest.