Pentes de la Croix-Rousse

A village in the city centre, the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse is one of Lyon’s strangest districts. BARNES Lyon gives you the guided tour of this district, and all the other districts of Lyon.

Discover this sloping district

The district is located in Lyon’s first arrondissement and extends from the Jardin des Plantes public garden to the top of the hill of La Croix-Rousse. It forms the famous passageway between the City of Lyon and La Croix-Rousse village. With its hills and numerous steps, it makes for quite an energetic stroll - living there is a commitment!

The district revolves around the Montée de la Grande Côte, which is almost vertical, and joins the Place des Terreaux to the Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse. The Chartreux district and its gardens overlooking the Saône lie to the west. To the east, the Montée Saint-Sébastien, the Esplanade du Gros Caillou and Place Bellevue offer magnificent viewpoints over the Parc de la Tête d'Or and the Alps. 

History of the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse

Thanks to its rich history, the district has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998.

In the 17^th and 18^th centuries, numerous gardens and monasteries were located in the Pentes area. In the 18^th century, the canuts - silk workers who had previously lived in Vieux Lyon - began to move to the area. They set up their workshops and dwellings on the slopes and in the Croix-Rousse district, in buildings designed to contain their large looms. These huge living areas have many unique characteristics, which account for the charm of the district’s architecture today.

Property in the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse 

As a result of its history, the district’s buildings offer large, very spacious living areas. These so-called “canut” apartments feature very high ceilings - up to 4m in some cases - and very large windows. A large number of mezzanines were added at the time in order to enable the canuts to live and work in the same places. On the ceiling, exposed oak beams were used for hanging the looms. 

The buildings, for their part, are often simple. They are connected to one another by direct passageways called “traboules”. More often associated with Vieux Lyon, there are nonetheless 163 of these passageways in the Pentes area!

Going out in the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse

The Pentes district is a real playground for children with numerous green spaces such as the Jardin Croix-Paquet, the Chartreux and Sutter parks and gardens, as well as the Jardin des Plantes public gardens.

The district also offers delightful outings for couples and families with superb restaurants such as

L’ourson qui boit, Les Fromagivores, and the classic Mère Brazier. The Pentes are also bursting with numerous shops to discover up and down the little streets. 

Transportation & Schooling  

Schooling 

Public schools 

• Michel Servet nursery school and primary school
• Victor Hugo nursery school and primary school 
• Les Tables Claudiennes nursery school and primary school
• La Tourette lower secondary school 
• La Martinière Diderot upper secondary school 
• Jacques de Flesselles upper secondary school

Private schools 

• Institution des Chartreux nursery school and primary school 
• Saint Louis/Saint Bruno nursery school and primary school
• Institution des Chartreux lower secondary school
  
• Saint Louis/Saint Bruno lower secondary school 
• Saint Louis/Saint Bruno upper secondary school 
• Institution des Chartreux upper secondary school
• Jean Baptiste de la Salle upper secondary school

Transportation

Metro line C 

Bus lines S12 / C13 / C18 / S6 

Discover all the nearby districts as well:

> Croix-Rousse district

> Terreaux district