Tour with an Actor-Guide: The Revolution and the End of Lyon

Discover the history of the Seige of Lyon in 1793 through a theatrical stroll in the city's historic streets and learn of this bloody episode in the company of the mathematician André-Marie Ampère, whose father was guillotined by the revolutionaries.

• Experience Lyon as Theatre of the Revolution as an actor-guide explains events
• Stroll along the city’s historic streets and discover their hidden history
• Relive the Lyon Uprising and the terrible repression that followed in its wake
• See how Lyon is marked still today by this episode in the of France’s past
• Understand the Revolution as no history book could ever convey

Your journey will begin at Place Bellecour, where André-Marie Ampère will inform you of the terrible sentence decreed by the National Convention of Paris: "Lyon made war on liberty, Lyon exists no more. The name of Lyon will be erased from the list of cities of the Republic." And this destruction will commence at Place Bellecour, renamed "Place de la Fédération."

How did we arrive at such a situation? By stopping in front of the Saint-Nizier church, Ampère will explain to you the complex situation of Lyon during the French Revolution. With clarity and vehemence, he will share his perspective on the fierce struggle between the Montagnards and the Girondins, on their fatal division, and on the consequences of this division, which led the National Convention of Paris to consider Lyon as a counter-revolutionary city. You will discover how Paris sent terrible emissaries against Lyon, Couthon and then Fouché, who repressed and massacred its population.

Imagine the sound of the guillotine tirelessly operated at Place des Terreaux, where many innocents, including Judge Ampère himself, will fall victim to the excesses of the revolutionary repression. On this square, you will retry the trial of the National Convention of Paris, where you will be led to distinguish on one side the historical truth and on the other, the passions that still surround this tragic episode in the history of the city of Lyon. 
Finally, you will discover a gallery of colorful historical figures, starting with Marie-Joseph Chalier, Lyon's "exaggerated" revolutionary, who aspired to be "the Christ of the Revolution." His execution sparked the siege of Lyon by the troops of the National Convention. Ampère will thus lead you to discover the house of the "Grand Tambour," where Chalier lived. You will conclude your visit in the astonishing Chapel of Sainte-Croix where the mysterious Crypt of Brotteaux is located, an ossuary erected in homage to the innocent victims of Lyon.