Église Saint-Polycarpe

A massive, stark stone facade looms over the Place Saint-Polycarpe, characterized by a heavy, temple-like pediment that stands out against the narrow, winding streets of the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. This building served as the chapel for the Jesuit college founded here in the early seventeenth century. During the French Revolution, the building became a site for secular political meetings, where the city’s revolutionaries gathered to debate the fate of Lyon while the altar stood stripped and silent.