Place des Terreaux is the large square at the foot of the Croix-Rousse hill in Lyon, framed by the City Hall on its east side and the Museum of Fine Arts on its south side. In the middle stands a fountain by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. It was made for Bordeaux and ended up in Lyon when Bordeaux found it too expensive.
Place des Terreaux at a glance
- Where: 1st arrondissement, on the Presqu'île between the Rhône and the Saône, at the foot of the Croix-Rousse slopes, next to the Hôtel de Ville metro station.
- Created: the ditch of the old town walls was filled in in 1578; the square took its present shape with the City Hall in the 17th century.
- What it is today: a pedestrian square inside Lyon's UNESCO World Heritage area, lined with cafés and used for events, including the Festival of Lights in December.
- Time needed: 20–30 minutes, longer if you visit the Museum of Fine Arts.
From a moat to the city's main stage
The name is usually linked to the earth (terreaux) used to fill the ditch of Lyon's old northern fortifications, which ran here from the Rhône to the Saône. The ditch was filled in 1578, and in the 17th century the square became the political centre of the city. The Benedictine nuns of Saint-Pierre rebuilt their abbey on the south side, and Simon Maupin built the City Hall on the east side from 1646. After a fire in 1674, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the architect of Versailles, rebuilt it.
The square was also a place of public executions. In 1642 the Marquis de Cinq-Mars, a young favourite of Louis XIII who had plotted against Cardinal Richelieu, was beheaded here with his friend François-Auguste de Thou. During the Revolution, after the siege of Lyon in 1793, a guillotine on the square was kept busy. In 1803 the former abbey became the Museum of Fine Arts. The Bartholdi fountain was set up in 1891, and in 1994 the architect Christian Drevet and the artist Daniel Buren redesigned the square with a grid of 69 small fountains. A second makeover by the same team, finished in 2019, reduced them to 15.
What to look for
- The Bartholdi fountain: a woman drives a chariot pulled by four rearing horses, an allegory of the Garonne and its tributaries rushing to the ocean. Ordered by Bordeaux as a 'triumphal chariot of the Garonne' and shown at the 1889 World's Fair, it was bought by Lyon's mayor Antoine Gailleton in 1890.
- The hammered lead: the sculpture weighs about 21 tonnes and is made of hammered lead over an iron frame, a rare technique. It was restored from 2016 and the water came back in March 2018.
- The City Hall: the long façade on the east side, with its bell tower and an equestrian relief of King Henri IV above the main door.
- The Museum of Fine Arts (Palais Saint-Pierre): the former abbey on the south side, now one of the largest art museums in France. Its cloister garden is a quiet place to sit.
- The Buren grid: the low square pillars and jets of water set out on the paving by Daniel Buren and Christian Drevet, which echo the lines of the façades around the square.
- The Croix-Rousse slopes: look north to see the streets climbing towards the old district of the silk workers, with its tall buildings and staircases.
The Festival of Lights
Every year around 8 December, Lyon holds its Festival of Lights (Fête des Lumières), and the façades of Place des Terreaux are one of its main stages for light shows. The festival grew out of a tradition that began on 8 December 1852, when the people of Lyon placed candles in their windows for the inauguration of the gilded statue of the Virgin Mary on Fourvière hill. Many Lyon families still put small candle jars, called lumignons, on their windowsills that night.
Tips for your visit
- Come at dusk, when the City Hall and the fountain are lit and the café terraces fill up.
- For a quieter break than the terraces, step into the museum's cloister garden on the south side of the square.
- During the Festival of Lights the square is packed in the evening: come early, or visit by day if you want to see the fountain in peace.
- From here, walk up the Croix-Rousse slopes and look for the traboules, covered passages through the buildings; some are open to the public during the day.
Nearby
- Opéra de Lyon: the 19th-century opera house behind the City Hall, crowned with a glass-vaulted roof by Jean Nouvel in 1993.
- Fresque des Lyonnais: the huge trompe-l'œil mural of famous people from Lyon on Quai Saint-Vincent, a short walk west towards the Saône.
- Saint-Nizier Church: the Gothic church with two towers, a few minutes' walk south.
- Croix-Rousse: the hill of the old silk workers (canuts) to the north, with its traboules and views over the city.
See Lyon with World City Trail
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If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Lyon.
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Facts checked in October 2026.