Vieux Lyon (UNESCO Historic Site of Lyon)

Vieux Lyon is the old town of Lyon, in the 5th arrondissement on the west bank of the Saône below Fourvière hill, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is divided into three quarters named for their churches: Saint-Jean, Saint-Paul and Saint-Georges. The district developed from the Middle Ages around the cathedral and grew rich in the 15th and 16th centuries, when Lyon's trade fairs, banking and printing industry attracted Italian merchants and financiers, especially from Florence. They built tall town houses in Gothic and Renaissance styles along Rue Saint-Jean, Rue du Bœuf and Rue des Trois Maries, many with arcaded galleries, spiral stairs and interior courtyards. Between the 1960s and the 1990s the area was rescued from decay and demolition after the 1962 Malraux law created protected conservation zones, and Vieux Lyon became one of the first protected sectors in France. In 1998 the Historic Site of Lyon was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with Vieux Lyon among its core elements, as one of the largest Renaissance districts in Europe. A distinctive feature is the traboules, covered passages that link streets through buildings and courtyards, some dating from the 4th century and used by silk workers and later by the Resistance during the Second World War. Several, such as the Tour Rose courtyard on Rue du Bœuf, are open to visitors in daytime, although most are in residential buildings. Among the landmarks are the Primatiale Saint-Jean cathedral, the Musées Gadagne in a 16th-century mansion, and the Maison Thomassin. The streets are cobbled and largely pedestrian. Many Renaissance façades have been cleaned and restored, and the ground floors now house restaurants, called bouchons, shops and museums. The district is compact enough to explore on foot in half a day and is reached by metro line D at Vieux Lyon station or by the funicular to Fourvière.