Le Fourvière

Le Fourvière is the 400 foot hill that overlooks Lyon. You can see the magnificent Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière at the top of this hills from anywhere in Lyon. Its white facade glistens during the day and is lit at night. The picture below was taken in La Place Bellcour in the Centre Ville de Lyon. You can just see the red roof tops of the buidings in Vieux Lyon. To the right of the basilica is La tour métallique de Fourvière. Modelled after the third stage of La tour Eiffel in Paris, it was built it with the support of the city as a republican response to the basilica. For many years it was a sightseeing tower and a restaurant, but was converted to a radio antenna in the 1950s. La tour is the highest structure in Lyon and exceeds the height of the neighboring church. This site has had special significance during Lyon's entire history. The Romans built a forum on this site There were Roman temples here. Other cults established a presence here after the fall of the Roman Empire. The first Christian Church was dedicated to St. Thomas à Beckett. In the seventeenth century, a chapel was built here to give thanks for stopping the spread of the Plague in Lyon. Two hundred years later, the Bishop of Lyon made a vow to the Virgin Mary to erect this church if Lyon was spared from a Prussian invasion. Lyon did escape the Prussian invasion and local citizens built the basilica in gratitude.
The Gauls who first settled in Lyon settled on this hill. Its towering height served as a natural defense against invaders. After several successful invasions, these original Lyonnais moved down to the edge of the river. They decided that the advantages of a quick get away outweighed those of a natural defense.

Originally a Roman forum was located on the site of the present church. This ancient forum that gave its name to the hill. The Romans conquered Lyon under Caesar and built temples and public structures at the top of the hill. Several theaters were constructed atop the hill in the first century BC. Twenty one hundred years later, During the summer, they are still in use. Les Nuits de Fourvière presents an eclectic program of dance and music in the Roman Theater. I have gone to several events there this summer. Construction crews still find Roman artifacts when digging foundations, but the theater is the only large building left from that era.
To reach the top of this hill you can walk up steep roads and even steeper flights of steps from Vieux Lyon. While the walk through the lush greenery of le Jardin de Roseries is more scenic, most people choose to take the Funiculaire rail cars. Riding on these cars feels like you are getting on a Roller Coaster. The trains climb up the hill at about a 45 degree angle. Even the station is at an angle. These pictures show the rail car and the station. If you look closely at the tracks you will see a cable running down the middle. At the other end of this cable is another identical rail car. These two cars are attached to each other and move up and down the hill in sort of a see-saw motion. They balance each other which reduces the power needed to move the cars. You try not to think of what might happen if one car comes loose!