Traboules du Vieux Lyon

Welcome to the heart of Vieux Lyon, or Old Lyon, a district that serves as a living museum of the French Renaissance. We stand here in the shadow of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, a site where history has been layered…

We begin our exploration at the entrance of a traboule on the Rue des Trois Maries. As we cross the threshold, notice the immediate change in atmosphere. …

Exiting La Longue Traboule, we arrive on the Rue du Bœuf, widely considered one of the most beautiful and 'highly decorated' streets in France. The name comes from the stone ox sculpture found on the corner of the street and the…

As we move toward the Rue de la Bombarde, we encounter a traboule that demonstrates the practical geometry of the city. Unlike the long, straight corridors we have seen, this passage features a sharp, right-angle turn. …

For our final section, we move toward the banks of the Saône River along the Quai Romain Rolland. While the traboules began as a tool of commerce, their most heroic chapter was written during the Second World War. …

As our journey through the traboules of Vieux Lyon concludes, we return to the open air and the familiar sunlight of the city streets. We have traversed a world that exists in parallel to the modern city—a labyrinth of stone and…