Fourvière comes from the Latin forum vetus which means old forum. The term “forum” takes us back to Roman times when in 43 BC, Lucius Munatius Plancus, Julius Caesar’s lieutenant, founded the city of Lugdunum on the heights of the hill. Some time later, the emperor Augustus, realising the strategic position of the city, made it the capital of the 3 Gauls, a distinction whose consequences were resounding for the economy, demography, architecture and the arts. Proof? As early as 15 BC, gold and silver coins were minted in Lugdunum, just as in Rome.
Let’s go for a walk among the vestiges of this ancient Roman colony; let’s visit the theater, approach the odeon, the thermal baths, one of the 4 aqueducts: you will then understand why at the time all roads led to Lugdunum!
