Lyon Medieval & Notre Dame de Fourviere

Medieval Lyon France Walking Tour Detailed Description

The Vieux-Lyon area, with its mix of Renaissance, Romanesque and Gothic architecture, became in 1954, the first city in France to gain law protection to preserve the country’s cultural sites.

The tour begins with a walk through the narrow-cobbled alleyways and famous traboules! These passageways, which lead from one street to the next, reveal superbly renovated architectural treasures: internal courtyards, Italian-style galleries, wells, spiral staircases… Along the way you’ll encounter essential monuments such as La Maison du Chamarier, the Hôtel de Gadagne or La Loge du Change. Explore the remains of the churches of Sainte Croix and Saint Etienne backing onto Saint Jean, which is truly symbolic of the power of the church in Lyon at that time. Your guide will tell you the secrets and anecdotes which have made the reputation of this historical district, the 1st preserved sector in France to have been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. You’re bound to notice the very particular atmosphere. Your tour will end at the basilica (Notre Dame de Fourvière) perched on the crest of Fourvière Hill thzt offers the best views across the city and surroundings of the Rhone Valley. Built between 1872 and 1884, the ornate interior is testament to the sheer opulence and outrageous wealth of the Catholic Church; a heady mix of gilt, marble, stained glasses and colored mosaics perhaps overcompensating for the church’s lack of genuine political clout around the time.