Lyon

This article is about the French city. For other usages (as Lyons), see Lyons (disambiguation).

Lyon (English Lyons) is a city in eastern central France.

Together with neighboring towns, Lyon forms the second largest conurbation in France after Paris. It is also the administrative centre for the Rhône-Alpes region and the Rhône département;.

The city gives its name to the Lyonnais region. Two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Côtes du Rhône to the South.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Geography 3 Colleges and Universities 4 Transportation 5 Culture 5.1 Born in Lyon 6 Religion 7 Twinning 8 External links

History

Lyon was founded in 43 BC by the Roman Empire, who named it Lugdunum after the Celtic sun god Lugh ("shining one"). Agrippa recognized that Lugdunum's position on the natural highway from north to south-eastern France made it a natural communications hub, and he made Lyons the starting-point of the principal Roman roads throughout Gaul. The three parts of Gaul mentioned by Caesar met at Lyon. It became then the capital of the Gauls.

Under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, the Christians in Lyon were prosecuted for their religious views. Burgundian refugees from the destruction of Worms by Huns in 437 were resettled by the military commander of the west, Aëtius, at Lugdunum, which was formally the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom by 461.

In 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon with the country beyond the Saône went to Lothair I.

Lyon was a scene of mass violence against Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacres in 1572.

During the Renaissance the city developed due to the development of the silk trade, especially with Italy; the Italian influence on Lyon's architecture can still be seen. Thanks to the silk trade, Lyon became an important industrial town during the nineteenth century.

Lyon was a centre for the occupying German forces, and also a stronghold of resistance during World War II, and the town is now home to a resistance museum. The traboules through the houses enabled the locals to escape Gestapo raids.