How well do you know Lyon? I didn’t know it at all before coming over. It is actually embarrassing to admit I didn’t know it even existed! So I was nicely surprised to discover it was such a wonderful place. And now I think I made up for my lack of knowledge. The last year I have spent here, I have been actively exploring Lyon! The more I got to know the city, the more I was falling in love with it …and still…I am more and more in love everyday, and I am still discovering Lyon. Because this city has so much to offer!
Maybe you know Lyon and heard about it. Maybe it is the first time you hear the name. Whatever case it is, I am sure you will be interested in hearing the Top 10 Amazing Facts about Lyon That Will Surprise You! Ready? Here you are!
- Lyon has over 100 hundred mural paintings and continues to have more! There are both individual artists and an organisation called ‘Cité de la Création’ in charge of the project of creating the so-called “trompe l’oeil”. On top of that there are about 25 murals in the Tony Garnier Urban Museum. Each of the Lyon district has at least one mural painting and the most famous ones are: the “Mur des Canuts” – the silk-workers wall – in the Croix-Rousse and the Mur des Lyonnais – the famous Lyon people’s wall
- Did you know that André-Marie Ampère – the famous French scientist, mathematician and physician who invented Amper was Lyonnais? So while being in Lyon you have a chance to visit the Ampère Museum; Museum of Electricity which is located in Poleymieux-au-Mont-d’Or and discover his work. Another famous Lyonnais was Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry – the author of Le Petit Prince! And yes, this is his whole (long) name!
- Lyon utilises ficelle. But do you know what for? For transport! Yes, ficelle stands for the city funicular – the cable train – old style metro built in the 19th century and it is still operating in Lyon! There are actually 2 ficelles running daily in Lyon between Saint-Jean and Fourvière hill. It’s a great experience for which you pay just a metro fare. Do not miss out on it!
- Another quite amazing & impressive fact about Lyon is the number of «traboules» – passages in between flats and courtyards which were used for protecting the silk transportation. They were also used by the members of Resistance during the World War II. So here you are – there were over 500 of them just and only in Lyon! I am impressed and you? To be more precise, there are 215 in Vieux-Lyon, 163 in Croix- Rousse and 130 in the Presqu’île. You can discover them in Lyon, they are nicely hidden in Vieux-Lyon & Croix Rousse and free to enter but there are just 50 that you can actually visit.
- Another impressive number: 325! This is the number of monuments which are illuminated in Lyon every night! Surprised? So here is more: there are 5 kilometres of electric cable, placed onto the walls to light the 450 points of lights, diodes, LEDs and optical fibres – this all to make all the elements of frescos shine for the city! Lyon was actually one of the first towns in France who introduced the lighting project in 1989. Since then it has been managed by the Public Lighting Service of the City of Lyon, the ECA and Vialis and spread through Lyon.
- And now an amazing fact about Guignol! Firstly, this is a puppet – the main star/character and hero of the Puppet Theatre and despite the fact that it has been invented in the 1820s, it is still performing for kids and adults in Lyon. Secondly, this is a puppet which gave birth to the Puppet Theatre: the way it has been created is pretty unusual. Because it was actually a silk weaver – Laurent Mourguet who could not find a job in his profession, and changed to become a toothpuller. In order to attract more clients and help them to overcome the pain, he started to use the puppet! It turned out to be a successful method and he became famous in Lyon and the whole of France. He abandoned his tooth pulling activity and dedicated his work to the theatre.
- Another thing that might surprise you about Lyon is a fact about the famous restaurant, La Mère Brazier (one of the Mères Lyonnaises): She was the first woman to get 3 Michelin stars for her La Mère Brazier restaurant. The restaurant was founded in 1921 and in 2006 Mathieu Viannay, French craftsmanship award winner took it over. You are more than welcome to visit and experience the quality, style and Lyonnais cuisine specialities once you booked a table.
- You probably know that Lyon has succeeded in the silk trade as there is so much historical heritage and souvenirs, museums, boutiques and silk items to buy also today to suspect that. But do you know who has contributed to this success? Well, it was actually the King Francis I who granted a monopoly in the silk trade to the city of Lyon in 1536. So this is how the silk industry boosted in Lyon and brought it prosperity!
- Another amazing fact about Lyon is that it has a very impressive building! La Maison aux 365 Fenêtres called also Forteresse du Peuple (the people’s fortress). It has:
- 365 windows for each day of the year,
- 4 main entrances for the seasons,
- 2 times six floors for the 12 months,
- 52 apartments with fireplace for the weeks
- two staircases with 164 steps for the sun’s ascent to and descent from the zenith
So, how cool is that? This building was created in around 1810 by the architect M. Brunet, it is located on the Place Rouville but unfortunately, it is not open to the public!
- Lastly, the amazing fact about the Pope of the French Cuisine- the famous Paul Bocuse…you might have heard that he welcomed and served a meal for the French President in 1975. It was his truffle soup which became very famous as well as the chef himself. But you might not know that nowadays, this truffle soup is still served in his restaurant and served in the exact way as it was already in 1975: in a footed soup bowl and topped with a dome of puff pastry. The only one thing I don’t know is, if it was as expensive to eat at Paul Bocuse’s restaurant back then as it is nowadays… but oh well…this must be an amazing experience!
Are you impressed with Lyon now? If you weren’t yet! Did you know any of the above facts? Well, I hope you enjoyed finding out new things about Lyon. But maybe you also know some really amazing and surprising things about the city and you can share them with us? It is an amazing journey for me to explore Lyon as there is so much more to discover. I enjoy it a lot and I hope you do as well!
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