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Origin and history

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, located in Lyon, is erected at the end of the 19th century on the site of the ancient Roman vetus forum, where a Marian cult developed since the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the bishop of Lyon made a vow to the Virgin to spare the city of the plague, establishing an annual pilgrimage. This place of devotion, marked by a medieval chapel dedicated to St Thomas and then to Mary, becomes a central religious symbol for the Lyons.

In 1870, after the protection attributed to the Virgin during the Franco-German war, the project of a monumental basilica was launched under the impulse of Cardinal Bonald. Designed by architect Pierre Bossan, inspired by Sicilian and Oriental art, construction began in 1872. Bossan, forced by illness, delegates much of the work to Louis Sainte-Marie Perrin. The neo-Byzantine style of the building, with its four towers symbolizing the cardinal virtues, arouses as much admiration as criticism.

The basilica was inaugurated in 1896, although some decorative elements remained unfinished. Private property thanks to the Fourvière Commission, it escapes from the 1905 Law on the Separation of Churches and the State. Ranked a historical monument in 2014 and integrated with UNESCO's World Heritage in 1998, it now embodies a religious, architectural and cultural heritage for Lyon.

The interior, rich in mosaics and stained glass, tells Marian history and heresies, while the exterior impresses with its whiteness and imposing towers. The golden statue of the Virgin, erected in 1852, and the Feast of Enlightenment, born of a postponement of the ceremony due to the weather, reinforce its anchor in the Lyon tradition. Despite polemics, such as Luther's representation among heresies, the basilica remains a place of pilgrimage and major tourism.

The restorations, especially those of the 2000s, preserved its mosaics, its structure and statues, including that of Saint Michael, damaged by a shot. Funded by public grants and donations, these interventions highlight Lyonnais' attachment to this emblematic monument, a symbol of their identity and history.

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