Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Old Hotel Terminus, now Grand Hôtel Mercure Château Perrache, is built between 1905 and 1906 in Lyon, in the 2nd arrondissement, at the initiative of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM). The aim is to provide the Lyon-Perrache train station with a luxurious establishment to accommodate an easy clientele. The architect Georges Chedanne, assisted by a Lyon colleague named Curieux, designs the building on the site of a former brewery, the Rinck brewery. The interior decorations, in the Art Nouveau style, are entrusted to renowned artists: painters Henri Martin and Ernest Laurent, sculptor Edgar Boutry, and probably cabinetmaker Louis Majorelle for marqueses and panelling. The hotel also innovates in sound insulation, with experimental techniques such as cork bricks or double layer partitions.

During the Second World War, between November 1942 and 1943, the hotel became the headquarters of the Lyon Gestapo, including section IV headed by Klaus Barbie, who was responsible for suppressing the Resistance. This dark period later inspired the documentary Hotel Terminus by Marcel Ophüls. After the war, the establishment underwent renovations, including one in 1959, which destroyed some of the original decorations, such as the ceiling of the dining room. Its decline began with the opening of the Gare de Lyon-Part-Dieu in 1983, which relegated Perrache to the background, and the construction of the Centre d'échanges de Perrache in the 1970s, which isolated the hotel between motorway and railway tracks.

Purchased in 1986 by the Société des Hôtels de Bourgogne group, the hotel was restored between 1987 and 1989. He changed his name several times: Pullman Perrache in 1989, then Hôtel Château Perrache under the Mercury brand. In 1997, parts of the building were classified or listed as historical monuments, including facades, the entrance hall, and several first floor lounges with original decorations. Since 2003, it has also been awarded the 20th century Heritage label. The hotel today embodies an architectural, railway and memorial heritage, marked by its role during the occupation.

The protected elements include the entrance hall overlooking Verdun's courtyard, the former reading room (current reception hall), the Seasons lounge (dining room for the Beautiful Seasons), the Crinoline lounge (now Emile Gallé), and the former director's office (Majorelle Lounge). The facades and roofs have been registered since 1997. The building illustrates architecture linked to the major railway networks of the early twentieth century, combining functionality, luxury and technical innovations for the time.

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