What it is
The basilica stands on top of Fourvière, roughly where the Roman forum of Lugdunum once was. The hill had a chapel to the Virgin long before it: in 1642 the city's aldermen vowed a yearly pilgrimage there to keep the plague away, and in the nineteenth century a gilded statue of Mary was raised on the old chapel's bell tower.
The basilica itself was begun in 1872, partly as thanks for the city's protection during the Franco-Prussian war. Its architect, Pierre Bossan, built it in a neo-Byzantine style — white stone outside, and an interior of mosaic and gold.
Why it matters
Lyon calls Fourvière la colline qui prie, the hill that prays, and the Croix-Rousse opposite la colline qui travaille, the hill that works. The basilica is visible from almost everywhere in the city, and the terrace beside it gives the best view there is back over Lyon.
Getting it right
Take the funicular up from Vieux Lyon — the line from the station beside the cathedral goes straight to the top — and walk down through the gardens and the Roman theatres.
It is a working church and a pilgrimage site. Dress for one, and expect services.
Before the basilica
The basilica sits roughly on the site of the old Roman forum, the Forum vetus. In 1168 a canon of Saint-Jean, Olivier de Chavannes, built a chapel on its ruins, dedicated first to Saint Thomas Becket and then to the Virgin; in 1192 the archbishop gave it a chapter of four canons. The small Saint-Thomas chapel still stands beside the basilica.
Its importance grew with the plague. Lyon was struck repeatedly in the seventeenth century, worst of all in 1628. On April 5, 1642, the city's aldermen vowed a procession to Our Lady at Fourvière to ask for deliverance, and on March 12, 1643, they dedicated the whole city to Mary and made the pilgrimage an annual one, on September 8. Inside the old chapel, a statue of the Virgin and Child carved in pear wood, darkened over the years, became venerated as a Black Virgin, Notre-Dame de Bon Conseil.
The golden statue and the Festival of Lights
By the mid-nineteenth century the chapel's bell tower was close to collapse and was rebuilt from 1849. On top went a gilded statue of the Virgin by Joseph-Hugues Fabisch, 5.6 meters tall and weighing more than three tonnes, more than 300 meters above sea level. Its hands and face are deliberately oversized so that it reads correctly from below.
Its inauguration was planned for September 8, 1852, but floods on the Saône delayed delivery, and the ceremony was moved to December 8. The weather was so bad that a further delay was considered, but the sky cleared that afternoon, and the people of Lyon set small candles on their windowsills in thanks. That is the origin of the Fête des Lumières, the Festival of Lights.
An architect's redemption
Pilgrims kept coming in greater numbers, and in 1850 Cardinal de Bonald set up a commission of Catholic lay people, the Commission de Fourvière, at first to buy the land around the chapel and stop new building on the hill. The idea of a great church, both to welcome visitors and to give thanks for Lyon having been spared during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, came later. The first stone, blessed by Pope Pius IX, was laid at the bottom of foundations 22 meters deep on November 8, 1872, and the church was consecrated on June 16, 1896, though decoration went on long after.
Its architect, Pierre Bossan, had a dramatic life. A brilliant young church architect, he abandoned the restoration of the cathedral in 1845 for a gas-lighting venture that went bankrupt, fled his creditors to Italy in 1847, and came back to Lyon to live very modestly. Around May 28, 1853, a meeting with the Curé d'Ars changed his life. Too ill to supervise the building himself, he directed it from a distance and required a daily report from his deputy, Louis Sainte-Marie Perrin, who carried out much of the work.
Loved and mocked
The neo-Byzantine design has always divided opinion. Admirers have searched for its sources; critics nicknamed it the upturned elephant. Inside are two churches, one above the other: a lower church dedicated to Saint Joseph, and the upper church, dedicated to Mary, covered in mosaics, a progression meant to lead from shadow to light.
The basilica has never belonged to the archdiocese but to the Commission de Fourvière, so it remained private property after the separation of church and state in 1905. It was listed as a historic monument in 1977, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage inscription of historic Lyon on December 5, 1998, and was fully classified in 2014. About two million pilgrims and tourists visit each year. In 2023 the towers were found to be in poor condition, and an appeal was launched to restore them.
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