A Day Trip to Vienne

In which David and Anna discover lots more Roman history and edifices just 20 minutes from Lyon…


In addition to our four-day and longer trips while in France, we have started renting a car for the day and exploring the countryside near Lyon. One such recent daytrip was a short drive south to the town of Vienne.

Vienne is one of the 117 towns and regions in France to earn the inclusion in the “Towns and Regions of art and history.” This august title is conferred by France’s Ministry for Culture and Communication on local communities that take the measures necessary to keep their local heritage alive and flourishing. (The award of this title also conveys a certain amount of authenticity to visitors and some resources to the community.) You may remember our commenting on the many Roman artifacts and structures in Lyon itself. Well, we were amazed at what we saw in Vienne.

Signs of human habitation dating back as far as the 5th century BC have been found in Vienne. Then the Allobroge Gauls moved in around the 3rd century BC and made it their capital. The Romans followed and made it their regional center until the Gauls got to be so much of a problem that the Romans moved north to Lyon. During their occupation the Romans built some amazing edifices – equally amazing is the condition of these buildings today.


Armed with hand-held audio guides and following the bronze markers in the path, we followed the 3 ½ kilometer (a little over 2 miles) long “Heritage Path.”


Here are a few of the notable stops on the path:


• The Temple of Augustus and Livia. Imagine walking down a bustling city street, turning a corner and seeing a rather imposing Roman Temple! This one was built in two phases – first in 20-10 BC and then in 40 AD. They were doing some work on it while we were there, but it is in amazingly good condition.

• The Roman Theater. This was on a city street up the hill and a bit off the beaten path. It’s one of the biggest theaters in the Roman world and has a diameter of 130 meters (~142 yds). It is still in use today – notably for an annual international Jazz festival each July. It has seen an amazing list of talented musicians and singers (Ella Fitzgerald and Diana Krall among them).

I couldn't get a decent picture, so I got this one off the web.

• St. Maurice’s Cathedral. Vienne got her first bishop in the 3rd century AD. The present cathedral actually stands on the site of the original cathedral, bapistry, and bishop’s residence. Emperor Julian attended the celebration of Epiphany here in 361. (For those of you who may be interested, there seem to be two versions of St. Maurice’s story. It is agreed that Maurice was one of the Christians in the Roman army under Maximianus. One story has it that Maurice was killed because he refused to slaughter fellow Christians; another says that Maurice was killed because he refused to participate in pagan ceremonies.)

• There are too many sites to feature here. In fact, there are 20 on the audio tour. But, we wanted to give you a taste of Vienne.


And, speaking of tastes…we, of course, made sure to enjoy a leisurely lunch in a very pleasant, local restaurant. And, as usual, we were the only tourists in the place. (It’s off season.) We both chose a yummy dish of pork in mustard sauce from the listed specials of the day. The food, local wine, and service were excellent, and we were able to enjoy a view of the square outside from our window table.  Here's a photo we took of the restaurant. 


More daytrips to follow.