Audio tourLYON UNESCO : AINAY

Ainay is the southern part of the Peninsula of Lyon. The Peninsula’s history began with the foundation of Lugdunumm in 43 BC: the Celtic village of ‘Condate' in the north and the 'Canabae', a crafts and trade district in the south. Navigation on the Saône and Rhône rivers allowed for numerous exchanges with other regions and countries.

At the end of the II century, after an assault on the city by the troops of Septime Sévère, the town became poor and people left the heights of Fourvière for the right-hand banks of the Saône; some people also settled in the territory known as the 'Canabae' on the Peninsula.

At the Carolingian period Charlemagne undertook the revival of the city. In spite of this the south of the Peninsula remained neglected; only the Ainay abbey thrived, annex of the large Ile Barbe abbey which until the XIV century maintained its rural character.

Many transformations took place on the Peninsula during the XVIII and XIX centuries, the most important being the extension towards the south due to the construction of a large dyke by Michel PERRACHE in 1775. After that quays were built, which served as dykes between 1858 and 1865 to protect from flooding.

Remarkable places and monuments

- the musées des Tissus and Arts Décoratifs
- the Basilique d'Ainay
- the Place Carnot