Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This grand square hosts the City Hall (Hôtel de Ville), the Museum of Fine Arts, and an
action-packed fountain by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (the French sculptor who designed
the Statue of Liberty). The fountain features Marianne (the Lady of the Republic) riding a
four-horse-poweredchariot,symbolicallyleadingLyon'stwogreatriverstothesea.Itwas
originally destined for the city of Bordeaux, which (ultimately) realized that it could not
afford the price tag, so the sculptor shopped it at the 1889 World Expo in Paris. There, Ly-
on'smayorfellinloveandhadtohaveit.AfterBartholdimodifiedittofitLyon'sneeds,it
was installed in 1891. This massive fountain was relocated in 1992 to its current location
tomakeroomforaccesstoaparkinggaragebelowthesquare(imaginemovingthisthing).
The square itself is usually wet, with 69 fountains spurting playfully in a vast grid
(designed by Daniel Buren, who did the courtyard of the Palais Royal in Paris).
This silk workshop, just off Place des Terreaux on Rue Romarin (behind Café le Moulin
Joli, a Resistance hangout during World War II), welcomes the public to drop in to see
silk printing and screen painting by hand. Keep in mind that this is a lost art that today
hasmostlybeenreplacedbymachines.Withintheshop,you'llseestretchedsilkcanvases,
