Lyon Saturday 26 August 2017

We arose early today as we only have one day here in Lyon.  After breakfast we head out walking towards the city which is about 1 and half ks. There are two rivers the first one being the Rhone, it is a very wide river and green from its glacial origins in the Alps. This bridge takes you into the main city centre with beautiful buildings all very upmarket designer shops, huge squares lovely area.  There is always great amounts of work being carried out on the buildngs in all these cities cleaning and restorarion etc.  We continued on to the bridge over the next river called the Saone which is only about 500 metres from the previous river.  This takes you into the old town.  The Saone is not quite as dark a green as the Rhone.  These two rivers join up just over a kilometre further south.  As you walk you enter an even older part of the town built on a steep hill above the river.  We rode the funicular to arrive at the top and you come out at Our Lady of Fourviere Basilica, outstandingly beautiful as they all are.  This in particular though was outstanding. 

Fourviere hillside has always been a highly significant part of the city.  It became a place of pilgrimage, the first written record of the building of a chapel dates back to 1168.  In 1643 the city councillors made a solemn promise to go each year in pilgrimage up to Fourviere and to offer there one gold piece and a candle weighing 7lbs if the city was freed from the plague.  The plague epidemic ended.  Each year still, on Sept 8^th Feast Day of the birth of the Virgin Mary, city councillors walk up to Fourviere Basilica: it’s the Mass of the renewal of their solemn promise in 1643. 

There is a tiny chapel The Chapel of the Virgin Mary.  On 8^th Dec, 1852, a gilded statue was placed on top of the bell tower.  Each year on Dec 8 the people of Lyons still celebrate this Feast Day including torch-lit processions which make their way up from St John’s Cathedral. 

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, the citizens of Lyons prayed to the Virgin Mary for her protection and made a promise to build an important sanctuary in her honour if the war did not touch Lyons.  Their prayer was answered, and to thank her, the decision was taken to build Our Lady of Fourviere.  Then began an enthusiastic generosity (many families gave sums of money, sometimes very modest but also jewels, liturgical vestments). This generosity continues today for the maintenance and restoration of the Basilica. 

All of this info I have given here is in the Visitors’ Guide.  It is indeed a magnificent place. After our visit to the Basilica we looked over the city from this height quite amazing.

For a complete change of scene practically next door is the almost intact remains of a ancient Roman amphitheatre built around 15BC.  It originally could seat 11,000 people but can still hold 4,500 and is still used today, quite spectacular.  Sam walked all the way to bottom I must admit after the million stairs I had already done I sat on a ruin, a ruin sitting on a ruin. 

We caught the funicular back to the lower level and visited Cathedrale Saint Jeaq-Bapiste again no words really.

Further out of  the city and we did not make it there, there is a museum called The Resistance and Deportation History Centre which is dedicated to preserving the history and memory of the Resistance and Deportation enabling visitors to discover one of the darkest periods in the city’s history.  The museum is inside one of the very buildings used by Gestapo Head Klaus Barbie. 

We would have loved to have seen this I (Sabine) have always been an avid reader of anything to do with the Resistance. 

We continued on back towards our hotel as it was becoming very hot just drinking in the beauty of the city.  Sabine and Sam