Vieux-Lyon
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Map of Vieux Lyon

Lyon

Reached by one of the three passerelles (footbridges) crossing the Saône from Terreaux and the Presqu'île, Vieux Lyon is made up of the three villages of St-Jean, St-Georges and St-Paul at the base of the hill overlooking the Presqu'île.

South of place St-Paul, the streets of Vieux Lyon, pressed close together beneath the hill of Fourvière, form a backdrop of Renaissance facades, bright night-time illumination and a swelling chorus of well-dressed Lyonnais in search of supper or a midday splurge. One of the most impressive buildings at the northern end is the sixteenth-century Hôtel Paterin at 4–6 rue Juiverie, a galleried mansion best viewed from the bottom of montée St-Barthélémy, just up from place St-Paul.

A short way south of the Hôtel Paterin, the Musée Historique de Lyon, on the ground floor of a fifteenth-century mansion on place du Petit-Collège (daily except Tues 10.45am–6pm; €3.80), has a good collection of Nevers ceramics, though the Musée de la Marionnette, on the first floor (same hours and ticket), is a lot more entertaining. As well as the eighteenth-century Lyonnais creations, Guignol and Madelon (the French equivalents of Punch and Judy), there are glove puppets, shadow puppets and rod-and-string toy actors from all over Europe and the Far East. If you want to see them in action, check out the times of performances at the Théâtre de Guignol, in the conservatory on rue Louis-Carrand by quai de Bondy (Oct–May Wed, Sat & Sun 3pm; for tickets and other puppet shows, ring 04.72.77.69.69 for information).

If you're traboule-hunting in Vieux-Lyon, two of the best can be found on two streets leading south from place du Petit-Collège: the winding passage behind the door at 27 rue de Boeuf, and that at 24 rue St-Jean, which leads to the courtyard of a fifteenth-century palace. The central pedestrianized rue St-Jean ends at the twelfth- to fifteenth-century Cathédrale St-Jean. Though the west facade lacks most of its statuary as a result of various wars and revolutions, it's still impressive, and the thirteenth-century stained glass above the altar and in the rose windows of the transepts is in perfect condition. In the northern transept is a fourteenth-century astronomical clock, whose original mechanism has been covered by a lavish Baroque casing: it's capable of computing moveable feast days (such as Easter) till the year 2019, and most days on the strike of noon, 2pm and 3pm, the figures of the Annunciation go through an automated set piece. The cathedral treasury is also worth a look for its religious artefacts, ranging from Byzantine to the nineteenth-century (Tues–Fri 8am–noon & 2–7.30pm, Sat & Sun 8am–noon & 2–5pm; free).

Just beyond the cathedral, opposite avenue Adolphe-Max and pont Bonaparte, is the funicular station and the Vieux Lyon métro, from where you can ascend to the town's Roman remains (direction "St-Just", stop "Minimes"). The antiquities consist of two ruined theatres dug into the hillside (entrance at 6 rue de l'Antiquaille; mid-April to mid-Sept 7am–9pm; rest of year 7am–7pm; free) – the larger of which was built by Augustus and extended in the second century by Hadrian to seat 10,000 spectators – and an underground museum of Lyonnais life from prehistoric times to 7 AD, the Musée Gallo-Romain et Parc Archéologique de Fourvière, 17 rue Cléberg (March–Oct Wed–Sun 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb Wed–Sun 9.30am–noon & 2–6pm; €3). Here, a mosaic illustrates various Roman games; bronze inscriptions detail economic, legal and administrative matters; and models aid the imagination in reconstructing the theatres outside. Nowadays, the ancient theatres are the focal point for the Nuits de Fourvière music and film festival that takes place annually in July and August (tel 04.72.57.15.40, www.nuits-de-fourviere.org).

From the museum, it's just a moment's walk to the Basilique de Fourvière, an awful wedding-cake of a church built, like the Sacré-Coeur in Paris, in the aftermath of the 1871 Commune to emphasize the defeat of the godless socialists. And like the Sacré-Coeur, its hilltop position has become an almost defining element in the city's skyline. What makes a visit worthwhile, however, is the magnificent view of the city; you can distinguish the different quarters and see how they have grown and been shaped by the Saône and Rhône over the centuries. The Basilique is also accessible direct from the Vieux-Lyon funicular station: if you arrive by this route, it's worth walking down along the montée St-Barthélemy footpath, which winds back to Vieux Lyon through the hanging gardens below the church.