Saint-Nizier is the Gothic church with two unmatched spires on Lyon's Presqu'île, a few minutes' walk from Place des Terreaux. It stands on one of the oldest Christian sites in the city, where Lyon's early bishops were buried, and the present building took more than two centuries to finish. In June 1975 it made headlines across France when sex workers from the neighbourhood occupied it.
Saint-Nizier Church at a glance
- Where: Place Saint-Nizier, on the Presqu'île in the 2nd arrondissement, between Place des Terreaux and Place des Jacobins.
- Built: from the 14th century to around 1590, in Flamboyant Gothic style; the south spire and the crypt were added in the 19th century.
- What it is today: a working Catholic parish church, listed as a historic monument since 1840.
- Time needed: 20–30 minutes for the nave, the side chapels and the crypt.
From the bishops' church to a Gothic parish
Tradition links the site to the martyrs of Lyon of the year 177. In the 5th century Bishop Eucherius built a basilica here for their relics, and in the 6th century several bishops of Lyon were buried in it, among them Nicetius, Nizier in French, who died in 573 and gave the church its name. Raiders damaged it in the 8th century, it was rebuilt in the 9th, and in the Middle Ages it became the parish of the merchants and craftsmen of the Presqu'île.
The Gothic church you see now was begun in the 14th century and only finished around 1590, slowed down by wars and epidemics. At that point it had a single tower. During the Wars of Religion Huguenot troops plundered the bishops' tombs, and during the French Revolution the church was badly damaged and used as a flour store. Restorers in the 19th century added the neo-Gothic south spire, new stained glass and the crypt, which is why the two towers on the façade look alike only at first glance.
What to look for
- The two spires: the north tower is the original Gothic one, the south tower its 19th-century partner. Compare their outlines and the colour of the stone.
- The central portal: a Renaissance doorway set into the Gothic façade, attributed to the architect Philibert de l'Orme.
- The Virgin in the chapel of Notre-Dame de Grâce, a Baroque statue attributed to Antoine Coysevox, the Lyon-born sculptor who worked for Louis XIV.
- The stained glass by Lucien Bégule in the Trinity chapel on the north side, made in 1894, one of several sets of 19th- and 20th-century windows.
- Mosaics by Gaspard Poncet showing the Virgin Mary and the 48 martyrs of Lyon.
- The crypt under the high altar, with 19th-century mosaics and the chapel of Pauline-Marie Jaricot, the Lyon woman who founded the Propagation of the Faith and was beatified in 2022. She is buried in the church, and a new statue of her was unveiled in 2025.
The church that sex workers occupied
On 2 June 1975 around a hundred sex workers from the streets around the church shut themselves inside Saint-Nizier to protest against police harassment and fines. The occupation lasted several days before the police cleared the building, and the date is now marked around the world as International Sex Workers' Day. In June 2002 the church was occupied again, this time by undocumented migrants, for more than ten days.
Tips for your visit
- Saint-Nizier is a working parish: come outside service times, keep your voice down and dress as you would for any church.
- For a photo of the whole façade with both spires, step back to the far side of Place Saint-Nizier; from close up the towers are hard to frame.
- Saint-Nizier was the city's parish church, Saint-Jean across the Saône the archbishop's cathedral. Visiting both on the same walk shows the two sides of religious life in old Lyon.
Nearby
- Place des Terreaux: the big square with the Bartholdi fountain, the Hôtel de Ville and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, a few minutes' walk north.
- Rue Mercière: one of the oldest streets on the Presqu'île, lined with restaurants and old merchants' houses.
- Fresque des Lyonnais: a huge painted wall on the Saône quays showing famous people from Lyon's history, from Roman emperors to the Lumière brothers.
- Vieux Lyon: the Renaissance old town on the other bank of the Saône, with its traboules (covered passages) and the Cathedral of Saint-Jean.
See Lyon with World City Trail
Our Lyon scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 52 minutes of walking. It includes Vieux Lyon and the Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, just across the Saône from Saint-Nizier.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Lyon.
Play the Lyon scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Lyon →
Play the outdoor escape game in Lyon →
Facts checked in October 2026.