Rue Saint-Jean - Old Lyon Traboules, Lyon (must see)

In 1954, the Old city of Lyon was the first town in France to be protected as a cultural site under France's Malraux law. The law protects an area of three Renaissance neighborhoods around Fourviere Hill. The districts are Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges. Saint Jean was a nexus of political and religious power in the Middle Ages.

Saint Jean Cathedral and its adjoining Romanesque Manecanterie (choir school) are found in the Saint-Jean distric. The first foot tunnel (traboule) connects Saint-Jean Street to the Government Square (Place du Gouvernment). In the Middle Ages there were few streets connecting the hill to the Saone. Citizens needed quicker access to fresh water.

The tunnels (traboules) were the answer. More tunnels were built in the 19th century. Canuts (silk workers) used the tunnels to move their silk down to the river for transport. When the Canuts rebelled against the rich silk merchants in the early 1800s, they used the traboules as hiding places. In World War II, the tunnels harbored Resistence fighters.

At 54 Saint-Jean Street there is a green door with an engraved sign reading: "La Longue Traboule" ( The Long Tunnel). It is the longest traboule in Old Lyon. The passage extends from Saint-Jean Street to Boeuf Street ("Beef Street"). The tunnel crosses five courtyards and four buildings. About fifty traboules are open to the public. But there are many more.