Enjoy your registration for the Marathon International du Beaujolais to discover all the riches of Lyon in collaboration with OnlyLyon
It has to be said: one day is not enough to visit Lyon!
Head for the Croix-Rousse hill, or ‘la colline qui travaille’ (the hill that works) as it’s known in Lyon. Take the funicular up the hill (metro C) to Hénon station at the top of Lyon’s “other hill” (the city’s two main hills are Fourvière and Croix-Rousse). Admire the huge painted wall known as the ‘Mur des Canuts’ on the corner of Boulevard des Canuts and Rue Denfert-Rochereau. Did you know that this 1200 m² wall is updated every ten years to keep up with changes in the neighbourhood: children become adults and in turn have their own children, plants grow, vehicles evolve… The wall’s painters keep it alive!
Next, head for the Maison des Canuts (included in the LyonCityCard) to learn about the history of Lyon’s silk-workers (known as ‘canuts’) and see a Jacquard loom in action. Nearby, the Soierie Vivante weaving workshop (also included in the LyonCityCard) shows another aspect of the painstaking work of silk-weaving and the daily life of the silk-workers. As you go, observe the characteristic architecture of the buildings on Croix-Rousse hill: they were specially built in the nineteenth century to house the silk-workers. Their ceilings, more than four metres in height, made it possible to accommodate the looms, and the high windows let in more daylight so the canuts could work longer hours. Many of the buildings were linked up by a network of hidden passageways – ‘traboules’ – so bundles ofsilk could be carried without getting wet in the rain.