About this place
Laid out in 1556 on the site of a Dominican, or Jacobin, convent whose church was finally demolished in 1818, this refined square in the heart of the Presqu'île takes its name from those friars. Its centerpiece is a white marble monumental fountain designed by the Lyon architect Gaspard André and inaugurated on the fourteenth of July 1885. The fountain honors four illustrious sons of Lyon: the architect Philibert Delorme, the sculptor Guillaume Coustou, the engraver Gérard Audran, and the painter Hippolyte Flandrin, while graceful sirens carved by Eugène Delaplanche pour water in the basin below them. Framed by orderly cream colored facades, the square offers a serene pause between the bustle of Rue Mercière and the vast expanse of Place Bellecour.
Key facts
- 1556 year — The square was laid out on the site of a Dominican convent
- 1885 year — Gaspard André's marble fountain was inaugurated on France's national day
- 4 statues — Famous Lyon artists stand on the fountain's arcaded monument
📍 Place des Jacobins, 69002, Lyon