What it is
At the foot of the Croix-Rousse stood the sanctuary where the sixty nations of Gaul gathered each year to worship Rome and Augustus. Its amphitheatre is dated by an inscription to AD 19, paid for by an aristocratic Gallic family from Saintes.
Why it matters
It is also remembered as a place of martyrdom for the early Christians of Lyon. The remains have been protected as a historic monument since 1961.
⭐ Much is gone — what you see is the lower part of the arena, sunk into the slope of a quiet residential quarter. It is the contrast with the busy streets around it that makes it.
