Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière has overlooked the city of Lyon from the top of Fourvière hill since the late 19th century.

It is built approximately on the site of the ancient forum of Trajan, Forum vetus. On this site, in the middle of the Middle Ages, a cult to Saint Thomas Becket was established, and then, quickly, to the Virgin Mary. This dual cult materialised with the construction, starting in 1630, of a place of devotion, the Saint-Thomas de Lyon chapel. Following a vow made in 1642 by the aldermen of Lyon to ward off a plague epidemic from the city, an annual pilgrimage was established. In the 19th century, at the initiative of Cardinal Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald, a gilded statue of Mary was erected on the chapel's bell tower, which was raised and reinforced on this occasion.

In parallel, the proposal to build a basilica, both to accommodate an increasing number of visitors and in thanks for the protection of Lyon during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, was accepted; its construction began in 1872.

The architecture of the basilica, in a Neo-Byzantine style, is the work of Pierre Bossan, who, obliged to supervise the construction from afar for health reasons, delegated a large part of the execution of the work to Louis Sainte-Marie Perrin. The very particular architecture of the edifice earned it many admirers, but also very strong criticism.

Owned by the Fourvière commission and not the archbishopric since its foundation, the basilica is therefore not affected by the 1905 law and remains private property, notably thanks to the diplomacy of Mayor Édouard Herriot, who was less anti-clerical than his predecessor Jean-Victor Augagneur. Nevertheless, despite this status, the basilica obtained official recognition of its status as a Lyonnaise monument at the end of the 20th century. The edifice was listed in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments on September 26, 1977; then it was recognised as being of public utility on October 15, 1998, just before its inscription on the World Heritage List on December 5 of the same year, as part of the historic site of Lyon. Finally, on March 25, 2014, it was classified as a historical monument.

The basilica constitutes one of the most visible landmarks of the urban area, and one of the symbols of the city of Lyon. It gives Lyon its status as a "Marian city". Approximately two million pilgrims and tourists are welcomed each year in the basilica. The basilica complex includes not only the edifice, the Saint-Thomas chapel and the statue, but also the panoramic esplanade and the Rosary garden.