Credit: Brice Robert Photographe
Discover the History of Lyon Through Its Museums
Lyon is not just a city to be explored through its squares, riverside promenades, or famous traboules. It is also a city of memory, where history unfolds in captivating museums. From Roman times to the silk industry, and from the Resistance to the visionary urban projects of the 20th century, each museum reveals a facet of Lyon’s heritage. Here is a selection of key museums to help you understand the soul of the city.
Lugdunum – Museum and Roman Theatres
Perched on the Fourvière hill, the Lugdunum Museum takes visitors back to the days of antiquity. Founded in 43 BC, Lugdunum was the capital of Gaul and a major political center of the Roman Empire. The museum houses an impressive collection: delicate mosaics, monumental statues, everyday objects, and Latin inscriptions. Right next door, the remarkably preserved Roman theatres host the Nuits de Fourvière festival each summer. A visit that reminds us that Lyon was first born from a prosperous Roman city.
The Museum of the History of Lyon – Gadagne
Located in a magnificent Renaissance townhouse in Old Lyon, the Museum of the History of Lyon is an essential stop to understand the city’s evolution. Its collections recount the daily life of Lyon’s inhabitants since the Middle Ages: maps, paintings, handicrafts, and archival documents illustrate major urban and social transformations. As you walk through the galleries, it becomes clear why Lyon is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: it is a city that has continuously reinvented itself while preserving its strong identity.
Brochier Silk Museum – A Living Heritage
While the Maison des Canuts and Soierie Vivante recount the past history of silk, the Brochier Silk Museum shows that this tradition is still very much alive. This family-run Lyon-based house, founded more than a century ago, continues to cultivate the unique expertise of silk printing. The museum showcases heritage collections, prestigious artistic collaborations with haute couture and renowned painters, as well as current research and innovation projects. Unlike places dedicated solely to memory, Brochier Soieries continues to produce and innovate, carrying the Lyon textile tradition into the present.
The Puppet Arts Museum – Gadagne
Also housed at Gadagne, another museum highlights an iconic figure of Lyon’s identity: Guignol. Created in the 19th century, this puppet has become a symbol of the city, embodying both rebellious humor and the voice of the people. The Puppet Arts Museum displays a unique collection of puppets from around the world, but Guignol takes center stage. Behind his wit and popularity lie the social realities and struggles of the Lyonnais of his time.
The Centre for the History of Resistance and Deportation (CHRD)
World War II left a profound mark on Lyon, which played a strategic role in the French Resistance. The CHRD, located in the former regional Gestapo headquarters, is a place of remembrance and transmission. Permanent exhibitions, archives, films, and personal accounts retrace the lives of resistance fighters as well as the suffering linked to deportation. The museum highlights emblematic figures like Jean Moulin while honoring the countless anonymous individuals who fought against occupation. A visit that is both moving and essential to understanding Lyon’s contemporary history.
Tony Garnier Urban Museum
Moving into the 20th century, the Tony Garnier Urban Museum pays tribute to one of France’s greatest architect-planners. Tony Garnier profoundly shaped Lyon with his visionary projects: the Halle Tony Garnier, the Grange Blanche hospital, and several workers’ housing estates. In the États-Unis district, this open-air museum features 25 monumental murals illustrating his work, along with a furnished model apartment from the 1930s. A visit that sheds light on another dimension of Lyon’s history: modernity and social progress.
Lyon, a City Always in Motion
From the Roman mosaics of Lugdunum to the contemporary silks of Brochier Soieries, from the Canuts of Croix-Rousse to the shadows of the Resistance, these museums reveal the richness of Lyon’s history. Exploring them means understanding how Lyon became a city of heritage, innovation, and collective memory, where past and present constantly engage in dialogue.
Article by Brochier Soieries — Discover France differently, through its stories and its most beautiful landscapes.