Lyon, France

Lyon
Registered Sector: 
Historic Site of Lyon
Location and site: 
Historical Function: 
Administrative Status: 
Historical Reference: 
  • Historic Site of Lyon, France. The long history of Lyon, which was founded by the Romans as the capital of the Three Gauls in the 1st century BC and has continued to play a major role in the political, cultural, and economic development of Europe since that time, is vividly illustrated by its urban fabric and by its many fine historic buildings from all periods.
Urban Morphology: 
Registration Criteria: 
Criterion ii: Lyons bears exceptional testimony to the continuity of urban settlement over more than two millennia on a site of great commercial and strategic significance, where cultural traditions from many parts of Europe have come together to create a coherent and vigorous continuing community.
Criterion iv: By virtue of the special way in which it has developed spatially, Lyons illustrates in an exceptional way the progress and evolution of architectural design and town planning over many centuries.