L’histoire de Lyon

An afternoon stroll around Lyon unearthed some historical facts about our new city.

Firstly we spotted this in Rue de la Republique.

In 1894 the French president was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist.

He was a popular president and had just said he would not seek re-election when his assassin struck.

Then we discovered the patron Saint of Lyon – St Bonaventure. The church that bears his name was open for once and a very knowledgable helper gave us a lesson on the former Cardinal.

Bonaventure played a key role in Pope Gregory X becoming Pope and was rewarded for his efforts by being made Cardinal of Albano.

He then took part in the Second Council of Lyon in 1274. He helped with the unification of the Greek and Latin churches, but then he suddenly died under suspicious circumstances.

There is a statue of St Bonaventure in the church made of papier-mâché which used to be paraded around Lyon on 15 July. Apparently it doesn’t happen any more which is a shame. I would have liked to have seen that.