Basilica of Notre Dame of Fourvière

The Basilica of Notre Dame of Fourvière crowns the hill with four angular towers and a central structure often compared to an overturned elephant. It was commissioned by the people of Lyon in eighteen seventy as a vow to the Virgin Mary if she spared the city from the invading Prussian army. Prussian forces stopped at the gates of Paris, never reaching Lyon. The church reflects this specific moment of local relief, built entirely with private funds raised by the city residents themselves.