Discover the beauty of Lyon

Distance: 10km (6.2mi)Elevation: flatDirection: clockwiseParks/Pedestrian: circa 80% (8km/5mi)Urban constraints: lowSuggested start: Bellecour Square /As any urbirun route, you can start whereever you want. Watch for the route direction.Public transportation: underground, Bellecour station (lines A and D)This is a pleasant run along the waterfront to discover the new Confluence district, and its original architecture, between the Saone and Rhone r

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 narro

A walk in the historical site of Lyon is a walk in time. From its foundation in 43 BC up until today, the city has maintained a permanent and continuous link with the periods that have marked its history.The urban development of Lyon is surprising and unique. At the Gallo-Roman period its centre was mainly on the hill of Fourvière. This naturally slid slowly towards the Saône river and moved out further towards the east. The medieval city grew up at the bottom of the slopes, squeezed between the hill and the river. The Old-Lyon neighbourhoods, built on a narrow strip of land, hung

This itinary will guide you from one workshop to another. This itinary is proposed by the trust Soierie Vivante. Soierie Vivante is the only association that exists, with the aim of safeguarding the silk heritage in Lyon.Soierie Vivante welcomes visitors in authentic workshops, holds demonstrations on protected looms, and preserves the heritage, the memories and the techniques.Visits are organized from the municipal trimming workshop, all year round, no reservation necessary. Tuesday to Saturday, at 2pm and at 4pm (length of both visits: 1hour 30 minutes).

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'.In spite of the Roman ruins, and up until the XV century, little historical data has been available. The Croix-Rousse territory really came into being at the Renaissance. From 1512 Louis XII initiated the building of ramparts in the extreme southern en

Ainay is the southern part of the Peninsula of Lyon. The Peninsula’s history began with the foundation of Lugdunumm in 43 BC: the Celtic village of ‘Condate' in the north and the 'Canabae', a crafts and trade district in the south. Navigation on the Saône and Rhône rivers allowed for numerous exchanges with other regions and countries.At the end of the II century, after an assault on the city by the troops of Septime Sévère, the town became poor and people left the heights of Fourvière for the right-hand banks of the Saône; some people also settled in the territory known as the 'C

Welcome to Lyon!Our walk will start at the "Vieux Lyon" metro station. During this walk, you'll be going back in time; you'll discover splendid buildings, and you'll wander through a maze of cobbled streets and hidden passages that are called "les traboules" - those famous cobblestoned alleyways of Lyon. You'll be a bold explorer here - not hesitating to push open doors and look down alleyways. You will see interior courtyards, spiral staircases and Italian balconies, referred to as "loggias". Lyon is also famous for its culinary delights, and your audio guide will lead you to t

Even if traces of earlier human settlements have been found on the edge of the Saône river (10,000 years BC), it’s at Fourvière 43 BC where the original city of Lyons was established (Lugdunum). This imposing hill reaches a height of 300 meters; its situation enabled it to be the meeting point of four Roman roads coming from Aquitaine, the Channel, the Rhine and the Narbonnaise. Lugdunum quickly became the capital of the Gauls. The town then spread out towards the east after crossing the Saône and then the Rhône.The Hill of Fourvière, that is to say Saint-Irénée, Saint-Just, Fourvi

From the Gallo-Roman period and up until the XVIII century the Peninsula was limited in the south by the rue des Remparts d'Ainay and the rue Bourgelat and in the north by the Terreaux. Today, within the boundaries of the World Heritage site, from north to south, the Peninsula includes the districts of the Terreaux, Saint-Nizier, Cordeliers, Grolée, Jacobins, Bellecour, Ainay and Perrache. This sector of Lyons contains some of the most interesting architecture from the XVIII to the XIX centuries.In the V century, the Burgundians invaded Lyons and made it one of their capitals. The