Amazing Architecture

We have never really been city dwellers for most of our lives.  We miss our walks along the river back home.  But there is an upside to living in an apartment in the middle of a big ville like Lyon.   Our strolls here are on the grand boulevards or through the narow cobblestone streets of a city with 2000 years of history, and these are a different kind of visual feast.

The variety and quality of architecture here is stunning.  On a single walk you can see everything from ancient Roman to post-modernism with everything in between.  And there are adaptations of styles that are unique to this area.  Old Lyon has an almost hidden network of over 200 passageways called traboules that allowed the 16th century silk merchants to easily transport goods through the city.  These are flanked by everything from a gothic cathedral to an art deco apartment building. 

The only danger is that when you are on a walk, you can get so distracted by the beautiful architecture that you aren't always totally aware of where you are stepping.  And that can be a real problem considering all the dogs there are in Lyon!

St. Jean gothic cathedral in old Lyon with 19th century Fourvière Cathedral

overlooking the city.

A staircase in one of the many Traboules

Another spiral staircase.

Neoclassic, gothic and modern all in a row.

I wonder how this doorway would look on 38 Hidden Valley Road?

(Our address back home.)

A detail from one of the many bridges that cross the Rhône and Saône rivers.

Palais de la Bourse in Lyon

The romanesque church of St. Martin Ainay

The neoclassic opera house with 20th century additions.

Designing something this complex and making it work so beautifully is

really a difficult thing to do.

The architect left his name and date on this one: F. Giniez, 1857

Almost everywhere you look, you find a Lion in Lyon.