Place des Terreaux

The Place des Terreaux is defined by the massive, bronze Bartholdi fountain at its center, showing a woman driving a chariot pulled by four plunging horses. Created by the same sculptor who built the Statue of Liberty, the fountain depicts the Garonne river and its tributaries rushing toward the ocean. Before this square became a public plaza, it sat between the old fortifications of Lyon. It served as a site for public executions, including the beheading of royal conspirators in sixteen forty-two.