Do you know this place that has radically changed in Lyon?
By Nicholas Zaugra
Published on
A particularly radical metamorphosis. In recent decades, the peninsula has changed its face. In the Bellecour sector, around the town hall with the Place des Terreaux, the slopes, Perrache and of course the Confluence district, which has risen from the ground and replaced a “disreputable” industrial district.
The opportunity to look into the transformation of Place and Rue de la République, one of the most dynamic areas of Lyon with its shops, bars, restaurants, cinema, metro…
The tramway, the car, then the metro and pedestrians
Rue de la République is an integral part of the history of Lyon with spectacular metamorphoses throughout history. The tram in the years 1800-1900 before the wave of the car in the 60s, the arrival of the metro and the pedestrianization of the sector towards the end of the 70s.
The square has always borne the name of the street that crosses it from side to side, today rue de la République. Inaugurated under the name of Place Impériale in 1862, under the Second Empire, it took the name of Place de Lyon after the fall of the regime, in 1871, and finally that of Place de la République, in 1878.
In the main photo of this article, we can see the Place de la République in the early 60s. The square then had a circular shape with a statue, a roundabout, parking spaces and not yet the metro which was performed in 1978 between Perrache and Villeurbanne.
Rue de la République in the 60s and 70s, before the arrival of the metro, was all hubbub and pollution with many cars and smaller sidewalks in this shopping street.
Major works decided by the prefect Vaïsse and developments
As part of the major works in Lyon led by the prefect Vaïsse, it was decided to create a north-south route on the peninsula. Rue Impériale (today rue de la République) is not completely straight and forms a slight bend to the north of Place Bellecour. A large square is planned where the street changes direction: Place de la République.
In 1894, President Sadi Carnot was assassinated nearby (a red cobblestone near the Place des Cordeliers is also visible in memory of the tragedy) and a monument, adorned with his statue, was erected in his memory six years later in center of the square. From 1973, metro work begins and the monument was largely dismantled to make way for a fountain by Serge Boyer, executed in 1977.
It is then a basin that we know today that is developed.
In 1959, rue Childebert was widened. The passage of the Hôtel-Dieu was then destroyed and a new building was built, still visible today. The last major change to the square in 1988: the extension of the Printemps store by removing part of rue du Palais-Grillet located between place de la République and rue Thomassin.
Basin and new facilities
In 1994, Le Figaro Lyon reviewed the latest major works on the street and the eponymous square. “Its lighting, Napoleon III consoles of the most beautiful effect, restore its luster of yesteryear. Its public benches, designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, remind the tired walker that we are in the 20th century.
The rue de la Ré is therefore given a new lease of life. Twenty years of pedestrian life had worn it down a bit, some would even say degraded it. From now on, the ambition of its promoters, whether elected or merchants, is to make it the most beautiful artery of the Presqu’Île, ”wrote the newspaper.
These last decades, this square in the center of Lyon, in the 2nd arrondissement, has established itself as an essential crossroads for many Lyonnais and tourists: with the metro and nearby car parks, many commercial brands and department stores and an activity that almost never stops. With Bellecour or Terreaux, it is one of the places where the people of Lyon spontaneously meet.
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