Croix-Rousse and the Silk Workers' Quarter (Canuts)

The Croix-Rousse is the hill that rises between the Rhône and the Saône in Lyon's 4th arrondissement, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, and it was the heart of the city's silk industry. Silk weaving arrived in Lyon in the 16th century under royal patronage and moved to the Croix-Rousse slopes in the early 19th century, when the Jacquard loom, perfected by Joseph Marie Jacquard in Lyon in 1804, required workshops with high ceilings. The master weavers, called canuts, worked in tall buildings with large windows, often with ceilings of four metres or more, that still define the architecture of the quarter. Social tensions over pay and conditions led to the canut revolts of 1831 and 1834, among the first major workers' uprisings of the industrial age in Europe. The hill is also known for its traboules, the covered passages that allowed silk to be carried across the hill protected from rain. Today the district keeps the character of a village within the city, with a Tuesday-to-Sunday market on the Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse, murals such as the Mur des Canuts, a large trompe-l'œil painting renewed in 1997, and the Gros Caillou, a large erratic boulder deposited by glaciers. The Maison des Canuts at 10-12 Rue d'Ivry presents the history of silk weaving, with working looms and demonstrations. Guided walks explain the traboules and the workshops, and the Atelier de Soierie shows hand weaving techniques still practised. The area sits within the UNESCO-listed Historic Site of Lyon, which includes the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. The hill is steep, and the metro line C and the stairs of the Montée de la Grande Côte provide access from the Presqu'île. A wander through the slopes also reveals bohemian bars, artisan shops and small galleries.