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Perched on the summit the Romans once used for their old forum, the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière was built with private donations between 1872 and 1896 by the architect Pierre Bossan and, after his death, his pupil Louis Sainte-Marie Perrin. The people of Lyon raised it as thanks to the Virgin Mary, who they believed had spared the city from invasion during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Its four towers, each about forty-eight metres high, stand for the cardinal virtues, while the interior dazzles with golden mosaics, Carrara marble, and coloured stone in a bold mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and Byzantine styles. A separate gilded statue of the Virgin, unveiled on the eighth of December 1852, gave birth to Lyon's famous Festival of Lights, and the esplanade beside the church offers the finest view in the city.
Wissenswertes
- 1896 year — The basilica was completed after a quarter-century of construction begun in 1872
- 1852 year — The gilded Virgin's unveiling this year sparked Lyon's Festival of Lights
- 48 metres — The height of each of the four towers representing the cardinal virtues
📍 Esplanade de Fourvière, 69005, Lyon