Tours · Lyon · Historic street
Rue Mercière
Rue Mercière is one of Lyon's oldest streets, once the engine of its famous printing trade and now its most beloved row of bouchon restaurants. Its tall Renaissance houses, lanterns, and spilling terraces make it the warm, convivial heart of the Presqu'île.
About this place
Running parallel to the Saône in the lower Presqu'île, Rue Mercière traces its origins to late antiquity and served as Lyon's main thoroughfare from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it became the cradle of the French printing industry, with around a hundred workshops crowded along its length, including the celebrated press of Sébastien Gryphe, whose beautifully printed books carried the ideas of the Renaissance across Europe. The very first gas street lighting in Lyon was tested here in 1835, and the whole quarter narrowly escaped demolition in 1956 before being restored and pedestrianized in the 1980s. Today its timber and stone facades shelter the most famous line of bouchons in the city, the convivial eating houses that serve Lyon's hearty traditional cuisine.
Key facts
- 100 workshops — Printing workshops once crowded the street during Lyon's publishing golden age
- 1835 year — Gas street lighting was tested here for the first time in Lyon
- 1956 year — A demolition plan was halted at the last minute, saving the street
📍 Rue Mercière 45, 69002, Lyon