Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The ancient Lyons, located on the hill of Fourvière, is a Roman monument built in the late I or early II century. Backed by the great theatre, it formed a rare architectural ensemble in Gaul, comparable only to that of Vienna. With a capacity of about 3,000 seats, it hosted concerts, public readings and meetings of notables, such as the colony's décurions. Its gradual abandonment from the third century onwards is part of the decline of the hill of Fourvière for the benefit of the lower town, near the Saône.

In the Middle Ages, the Odeon was used as a stone quarry to build the Saint John Cathedral and the Lyon bridges. A charter of 1192 even reserves its marbles for the cathedral. The ruins, partially buried under rubble, only led to the emergence of imposing remains, sometimes interpreted as theatre, sometimes as the amphitheater of the 177 Christian martyrs. These debates lasted until the major archaeological excavations carried out between 1933 and 1958, which finally revealed its d-odeon nature.

The excavations, led notably by Pierre Wuilleumier and Amable Audin, opened a 73-metre-diameter building with a semicircular cellara and an orchestra richly decorated with a dry opus pavement with imported stones (marms, porphyres, granites). The 6.45-metre thick wall suggested a possible partial coverage, although this hypothesis remains under discussion. Fragments of marble bas-reliefs, representing Harvesting Loves, were found in a medieval lime oven, attesting to a luxurious decoration.

It was served by stairways and vaulted corridors, some of which retain marble slabs. Its back wall, adorned with niches, dominated a paved esplanade where a two-level portal housed spectators. Close by, an antique street with shops and a fountain connected the upper entrances of the The discoveries also include marble statues, inscriptions dedicated to a duumvir, and architectural elements such as the pulpitum (decorated stage wall) and the curtain pit.

Rediscovered in the Renaissance, the odeon was the subject of speculation among the Lyon humanists, such as Syméoni (1559) or Jacob Spon (1673), who confused it with an amphitheater. The 20th century excavations, coupled with the creation of the Gallo-Roman Museum in 1975, transformed the site into a major archaeological park. From 1952 onwards, L.

Today, the Odeon and the nearby theatre form a listed historical monument, accessible by the Fourvière funicular. The Gallo-Roman Museum exhibits models of reconstruction and the surviving statues of the lime oven, such as Hellenistic copies of hunters. This site, symbol of Lugdunum, capital of Gauls, illustrates the Roman heritage of Lyon and its role in the diffusion of ancient culture in Gaul.

External links