Rue Mercière
Former name(s) | Rue Marchire |
---|---|
Type | Street |
Location | 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, Lyon, France |
Postal code | 69002 |
Construction | |
Construction start | 13th century |
Rue Mercière is a street of Les Cordeliers quarter in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon.[1] From north to south, it connects the Place des Jacobins to the Place d'Albon. This street is served by metro stations Bellecour and Cordeliers of the line and by the bus station Jacobins of the lines 91 and 99. It belongs to the zone classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
History
Late antiquity - 17th century
Etymologically, the French word "Mercière" refers to "merchant", which is the main activity of the street. Previously, the small rue Mercière was distinguished from the rue Dubois in the south and the large rue Mercière at the north. This is one of the oldest streets of Lyon and was probably created during the
The composer Louis Marchand was born at number 2 in 1669. The almanac of Lyon was printed in this street from 1740 to 1836.[4] Among the famous residents of the street are Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1509) who held the secret society named l'Agla, Langlai brothers who printed Simon Maupin's Lyon map, and writer André Steyert who was born in this street in 1830.[5]
18th and 20th centuries
As for other streets of the close quarter, the Gas Company of Perrache made its first test of gas lighting in the street in 1835.[3]
Fallen into an unhealthiness state in the 19th and 20th century, the street was the subject of several re-developments, including the project Moncorgé named Transformation et embellissement de Lyon in 1909.
The southern part of the street was particularly known for its prostitutes until the 1970s[9] and was also the subject of a development plan near the Place des Jacobins.
Big changes were made in the 1980s. The embellishment was then spectacular and the street became pedestrian. In the south, it currently houses a large number of restaurants, including many bouchons of Lyon and bars, making the street a popular quarter for the tourists. It has a major architectural heritage by the presence of a row of buildings created during the Renaissance.
Architecture
On the west side, the street starts with a seven-floor building of the 1970s. On the east side, there is a row of stone buildings of the 19th century, with five storeys. Between the rue Grenette and the luxurious hotel Horace Cardon, the street is narrower, with on the west, a row of Renaissance-styled houses with mullioned windows. The street ends with a modern home and a garden.[5]
A plaque shows the location of Étienne Dolet's print shop (16th century), another one from the Hospices Civils de Lyon is attached to the printer and alderman Guillaume de Rouville's house, and another one is on the Hôtel Horace Cardon mentioning 18th-century printer Fleury Mesplet.[5]
The opened traboule at No. 45 crosses two buildings and is composed of a 17th-century building and a courtyard with a spiral staircase. The closed traboule at No. 49 is straight starts with a high-storey building.[10]
Photos
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Re-development of the nordern part, the buildings on the rue Mercière
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Soudern part, re-development near the Place des Jacobins
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The Place des Jacobins, in 1900
In the background, the first buildings of the rue Mercière, destroyed when it was re-developed in its southern part -
The bouchons in the central part of the street, viewed from the south
References
- ISBN 2-84147-126-8.
- ^ Louis Maynard, Rues de Lyon, avec l'indication de ce qu'on peut y remarquer en les parcourant, Traboules editions
- ^ a b Meynard, Louis (1932). Dictionnaire des lyonnaiseries — Les hommes. Le sol. Les rues. Histoires et légendes (in French). Vol. 3 (1982 ed.). Lyon: Jean Honoré. pp. 130–37.
- ^ Brun De La Valette, Robert (1969). Lyon et ses rues (in French). Paris: Le Fleuve. pp. 171–72.
- ^ a b c d "Rue Mercière" (in French). Rues de Lyon. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ Charles Delfante and Agnès Dally-Martin, 100 ans d'urbanisme à Lyon, LUGD editions, 1994, p. 128
- ^ Charles Delfante and Agnès Dally-Martin, 100 ans d'urbanisme à Lyon, LUGD editions, 1994, p. 138
- ISBN 2-7171-0453-4.
- ^ "La prostitution à Lyon et ses faubourgs dans la 1e moitié du XIXème siècle" (PDF). Retrieved May 25, 2009.
- ISBN 2-904899-01-4.