Place Benoît-Crépu

The Place Benoît-Crépu is a stone-paved square, located in Saint-Georges quarter, on the banks of the Saône (Vieux Lyon), in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon. It has fountains with dolphin heads, many benches and trees and a playground. The place belongs to the area classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

History

In the thirteenth century the Order of St. Anthony was established here.[1] This square partly absorbed the Rue Pierre-Percée, now called rue Monseigneur Lavarenne.[1]

The square was modified when the Quai Fulchiron was created in 1858, then expanded after the destruction of houses that prolonged the rue Lavarenne.[2] The square was renovated for the construction of an underground car park from 2001 to 2006. During this work, various objects, including three Gallo-Roman boats, relatively well preserved, dating from the first or second century, were discovered. Similarly, while digging the tunnel which connects the parking under the rue Monseigneur-Lavarenne, several buildings of the Middle Ages were discovered, apparently abandoned after the many floods of the Saône. Some of the old ramparts were also found. All archaeological discoveries caused a six to nine-month delay of work.[3][4]

This square is situated on one of the many ports of the Saône, the port du Sablet or Sablé,[5] which existed from the late Middle Ages to 1844, and was destroyed with the surrounding houses to develop the current wharf (e.g. a house was demolished in 1707 to create the square).[6] The square was formerly named Place du Port-Sablé (also spelled Sablet, which perhaps referred to the sandy nature of the soil or the unloading of vessels which contained sand).[7] In 1866, the church of Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, which was on the square, was demolished.[8] The current name was assigned by the municipal council of 23 November 1894 as tribute to Benoît Crépu, a tanner born in Lyon on 23 January 1839 and died in the city on 4 April 1893, as he had donated part of his fortune to the city of Lyon.[9] In his will,[10] he gave his building located at No. 24 rue de la Quarantine to be sold for the benefit of secular schools.[11]

Architecture and description

The square has limestone benches and beautiful pavements. The vegetation consists mainly of silk trees and groves of laurel.[12]

The majority of the square consists of two rows of four to six-storey buildings with narrow facades generally built in the 19th century. The building between the wharf and the rue Lavarenne was created in 1845 ; it has six different floors with a Virgin and Child at the corner of the wharf. At No. 8, two plaques say the height of the floods of the Saône on 5 November 1840 and 21 May 1856.[2]

After having served for a while as a station for trolleys and buses, the square was gradually transformed into a large garden through a space reorganization.[7] In 2008, landscapers of the Ilex agency completely modified the square.[12]

The Église Saint-Georges is near the square.

References

  1. ^ a b Brun De La Valette, Robert (1969) (in French). Lyon et ses rues. Paris: Le Fleuve. p. 40. 
  2. ^ a b "Place Benoît-Crépu" (in French). Rues de Lyon. http://ruesdelyon.wysiup.net/PageRubrique.php?ID=1006083&rubID=1006158#. Retrieved 8 January 2010. 
  3. ^ "Place Benoît-Crépu" (in French). Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives. 5 October 2009. http://www.inrap.fr/archeologie-preventive/Sites-archeologiques/p-935-Place-Benoit-Crepu.htm. Retrieved 8 January 2010. 
  4. ^ Françoise, Dumasy; François, Queyrel (2009) (in French). Archéologie et environnement dans la Méditerranée antique. p. 247. http://books.google.fr/books?id=TJKE_poINksC&pg=PP1&dq=place+beno%C3%AEt-cr%C3%A9pu&lr=&cd=45#v=onepage&q=place%20beno%C3%AEt%20cr%C3%A9pu&f=false. 
  5. ^ Pelletier, Jean (1985) (in French). Lyon pas à pas — son histoire à travers ses rues — Rive droite de la Saône, Croix-Rousse, quais et ponts de la Saône. Roanne / Le Coteau: Horvath. pp. 30. ISBN 2-7171-0377-5. 
  6. ^ Vanario, Maurice (2002) (in French). Rues de Lyon à travers les siècles. Lyon: ELAH. p. 235. ISBN 2-84147-126-8. 
  7. ^ a b Pelletier, Jean; Delfante, Charles (2009) (in French). Places de Lyon — Portraits d'une ville. Lyon: Stéphane Bachès. pp. 110–11. ISBN 978-2-915266-64-1. 
  8. ^ Dureau, Jeanne-Marie (1994) (in French). Lyon, les années Rabelais (1532-1548). p. 137. 
  9. ^ Vanario, Maurice (2002) (in French). Rues de Lyon à travers les siècles. Lyon: ELAH. p. 91. ISBN 284147-126-8. 
  10. ^ Maynard, Louis (2009) (in French). Histoires, légendes et anecdotes à propos des rues de Lyon, avec indication de ce qu'on peut y remarquer en les parcourant. Les Traboules. pp. 51,52. ISBN 978-2-911491-57-3. 
  11. ^ Vachet, Adolphe (1902) (in French). À travers les rues de Lyon (1982, Marseille ed.). Lyon: Laffitte reprints. p. 74. ISBN 2-7348-0062-4. 
  12. ^ a b Eberhard, Pierrick (2010) (in French). Lyon et ses parcs et jardins — Grand Lyon, département du Rhône. Lyon: Éditions Lyonnaises d'Art et d'Histoire. p. 41. ISBN 2841472185. 
This article incorporates information from the revision as of 2010-01-08 of the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.
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