The term “terreaux” refers to the old medieval moats and mud ramparts (“terre”) that protected the city until the end of the 16th century. These areas were filled in to create a vast square where the city's guillotine was erected. It is second only to Place Bellecour in importance, framed by the Palais Saint-Pierre and the City Hall. In 1892, the city council acquired a statue by the renowned sculptor Bartholdi (famous for the Statue of Liberty), which the city of Bordeaux had commissioned but subsequently rejected.
Conflict
In the 13th century, a major conflict arose between the ecclesiastical authorities and the burghers of Lyon concerning taxes on goods. It was then that the latter had a revolutionary, somewhat audacious idea: to build a wall.
Protection against Dombes
Their goal was not only to gain commercial independence, but also to own their own homes. Renaud de Forez II, their main opponent, protested and resisted in 1208, before being persuaded by Pope Innocent III to ease tensions, considering this a step forward.
Fortification of the Place des Terreaux
The Place des Terreaux was once a chasm called Terralia Nova. Renaud de Forez II, who had opposed the construction of the wall, revived the idea and began building it. His new objective was to protect the city from a possible attack from the Dombes (territory of the Holy Roman Empire).
This wall was colossal, some 500 meters long, 10 meters high, and 2 meters thick. Extending from the foot of Saint-Sébastien hill, it included 10 towers, drawbridges, and a huge moat that could be filled with water in case of emergency. The main tower was located on the Saône River to control the Pont de l'Échange – the only crossing between St. Nizier and St. Jean.
In Latin, it was called Terralia Nova («new ditch of earth and water») or Lantern Ditches, and that is what the Place represented – a huge ditch filled with mud used by crossbowmen as a training site, but also as a trap for unwanted invaders coming from the north.
From the town hall to the City Hall
The town hall of Lyon was built in the 17th century. In the 16th century, the wall was in ruins and was demolished in 1538. The moat was filled and the stones from the wall were used by nuns to renovate the convent of Saint-Pierre, which has housed the Museum of Fine Arts since 1803.
Between 1646 and 1651, Simon Maupin erected Lyon's City Hall, which was later rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1674 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Access to the square was subsequently improved in the 19th century.
The Dark Events
However, the Place des Terreaux was not simply a place of peace and spirituality. Several people were beheaded in this square, including Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis de Cinq-Mars, a conspirator against Richelieu.
During the French Revolution, the guillotine was installed and operated at full capacity under the authority of Marie Joseph Chalier. And after the siege of Lyon, no fewer than 79 people were beheaded in this historic square.
