Colleges and universities in Lyon

CPE Lyon
ecole Centrale de Lyon
EM Lyon (ecole de Management de Lyon)
ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon
ecole Normale Superieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines
ecole Nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon
institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon
institut d’etudes politiques de Lyon
institution des Chartreux http://www.leschartreux.com
Universite Jean Moulin (Lyon iii)
Universite Claude Bernard (Lyon i)
Universite Louis Lumière (Lyon ii)
Universite Catholique de Lyon
ESDES Business School
ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’etat
La Martiniere Lyons

Religion of Lyon

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of the city holds the honorary title “Primate of the Gauls” (Primat des Gaules). The archdiocese dates to Roman times before Franks entered modern France (see history above).

The red vestments of the canons of Lyon are said to have given rise to red becoming the signature color of the cardinals, in a decree promulgated under Pope innocent iV at the First Council of Lyons, 1245.

Culture of Lyon

Lyon was an early center for printing books, and nurtured a circle of 16th century poets. For several centuries Lyon has been known as the capital of gastronomy, fine handweaving, and the silk trade. The Lumière brothers invented cinema in the town in 1895.

December 8 each year is marked by “la Fete de la Lumière” (the Festival of Lights), a celebration of thanks to the Virgin Mary, who purportedly saved the city from a deadly plague in the Middle Ages. During the event, the local population places candles in their windows and the city of Lyon organizes and projects impressive large-scale light shows onto the sides of important Lyonais monuments, such as the mediaeval Cathedral St-Jean.

Two of France’s best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Cotes du Rhone to the South.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Saint-Jean and the Croix-Rousse areas, which are noted for their narrow passageways (traboules) that pass through buildings and link the streets either side, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998.

History of Lyon

Lyon was founded as a Roman colony in 43 BC by Munatius Plancus, a lieutenant of Caesar, on the site of a Gaulish hill-fort settlement called Lug[o]dunon-from the Celtic sun god Lugus (’Light’, cognate to Old irish Lugh, Modern irish Lu) and dunon (hill-fort). The name was latinised as Lugdunum; Lug was equated by the Romans to Mercurius. Lug’s ‘totem’ was a cock (rooster), hence the Modern French association with ‘le coq’.

The three parts of Gaul mentioned by Caesar met at Lyon. Agrippa recognized that Lugdunum’s position on the natural highway from northern to south-eastern France made it a natural communications hub, and he made Lyon the starting point of the principal Roman roads throughout Gaul. it then became the capital of Gaul, partly thanks to its fortunate site at the convergence of two navigable rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in this city: Claudius and Caracalla.

The Christians in Lyon were persecuted for their religious views under the reigns of the Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. The great Christian bishop of Lyon in the 2nd century was the Easterner irenaeus.

Burgundian refugees from the destruction of Worms by Huns in 437 were resettled by the military commander of the west, Aëtius, at Lugdunum, which was formally the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom by 461.

in 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair i.

Fernand Braudel remarked, “Historians of Lyon are not sufficiently aware of the bi-polarity between Paris and Lyon, which is a constant structure in French development” from the late Middle Ages to the industrial Revolution (Braudel 1984 p. 327). The fairs in Lyon, the invention of italian merchants, made it the economic countinghouse of France in the late 15th century. When international banking moved to Genoa, then Amsterdam, Lyon simply became the banking center of France; its new Bourse (treasury), built in 1749, still resembled a public bazaar where accounts were settled in the open air. During the Renaissance, the city developed with the silk trade, especially with italy; the italian influence on Lyon’s architecture can still be seen. Thanks to the silk trade, Lyon became an important industrial town during the 19th century.

Lyon was a scene of mass violence against Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacres in 1572.

The silk workers of Lyon, known as canuts, staged two major uprisings: in 1831 and 1834. The 1831 uprising saw one of the first recorded uses of the black flag as an emblem of protest.

Lyon was a centre for the occupying German forces and also a stronghold of resistance during World War ii, and the town is now home to a resistance museum. (See also Klaus Barbie.) The traboules, or secret passages, through the houses enabled the local people to escape Gestapo raids.

Lyon Administration

Lyon is the capital of the Rhône-Alpes region, the prefecture of the Rhône departement, and the capital of 14 cantons, covering 1 commune, and with a total population of 445,452 (1999).

Lyon, similarly to Marseille and Paris is divided into 9 municipal arrondissements (often translated into English as borough), referred to by number. The arrondissements were originally created in 1852 when a number of surrounding communes (Croix-Rousse, Guillotière, and Vaise) were annexed to Lyon. Within each arrondissement, there are a number of recognisable “quartiers” or neighborhoods:
1st arrondissement: Pentes de la Croix-Rousse, Les Terreaux, Saint-Vincent
2nd arrondissement: Cordeliers, Bellecour, Ainay, Perrache et Confluent
3rd arrondissement: La Part-Dieu, La Villette, Montchat, La Guillotière
4th arrondissement: La Croix-Rousse, Serin
5th arrondissement: Saint-Jean- Saint-Paul - Saint-Georges (Vieux Lyon), Saint-Just, Fourvière, Le Point-du-Jour, Menival, Champvert, La Sarra, Saint-irenee
6th arrondissement: Les Brotteaux, Bellecombe, Tete d’Or
7th arrondissement: La Guillotière, Gerland, La Mouche
8th arrondissement: Monplaisir, Le Bachut, Mermoz, Les etats-Unis, Le Grand Trou, Moulin a Vent, Laënnec
9th arrondissement: Vaise, La Duchère, Saint-Rambert-l’ile-Barbe

Geography of Lyon

Lyon’s geography is dominated by the Rhône and Saône rivers which converge to the south of historic city centre forming a sort of peninsula or “presqu’ile”; two large hills, one to the west and one to the north of the historic city centre; and a large plain which sprawls westward for the historic city centre.

To the west is the Fourvière, known as “the hill that prays”, is the location for the highly decorated Notre-Dame de Fourvière basilica, several convents, the palace of the Archbishop, the Tour metallique (a highly visible TV tower, replicating the last stage of the Eiffel Tower) and a funicular.

To the north is the Croix-Rousse, “the hill that works”, was traditionally home to the many small silk workshops, an industry for which the city was renowned.

The original medieval city (Vieux Lyon) was built on the west bank of the Saône river at the foot of the Fourvière hill, west of the presqu’ile. (This area, along with portions of the presqu’ile and much of the Croix-Rousse are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, see below.) (more…)