Romans and Catholics

I haven't been out and about in Lyon too much yet as I think I spent the weekend fighting off a cold. I feel fine now but it didn't leave me with much inclination to go out (the cold weather isn't helping either). However, one day I did scramble around Fourvière and take some pictures.


First up are the gallo-romano ruins. There are two ampitheatres that were built around 15 BC when Lyon was the city of Lugdunum. Apparently, there are still concerts and events put on here, probably in the summer.

Crowning the hill of Fourvière is the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière. Here the Cathedral Saint-Jean, at the bottom of the hill, is in the foreground. The hostel is on the hill almost directly between the two.

The Basilisque is quite astonishing. It is reasonably new, as churches in Europe go, built in the 19th century and filled with the most exquisite mosaics. The nave contains panel after panel of huge, detailed and bright Biblical mosaics. So often one sees mosaics in ruins, when the tiles have been broken, lost and faded. Seeing the ones in the Basilique gives you an idea of what these more ancient mosiacs actually were.



Finally, a shot of the ferris wheel in the Place Bellecour. In the evening, it is lit up all yellow and red and orange and flashing. I should try to get a picture of it then; it's much more impressive.