An Interesting Bit of History of the Region: l'Île Barbe

 

A View of  l'Île Barbe Today

The history of l'Île Barbe is deeply intertwined with the history of Lyon and the broader region of Gaul. The island's name, derived from the Latin "insula barbara" or "Barbarians' Island," suggests its early occupation as a refuge for Druids and other early inhabitants of the Saône banks. As an island in the Saône River, it provided a certain amount of natural defense and actually became an ideal location for a monastery.

The island's monastic establishment dates back to the 5th century. It was the first monastic establishment in the Lyon region and one of the oldest in all of Gaul. Charlemagne visited it and gifted it with a beautiful library. The monastery, later an abbey, adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict in the 9th century and gradually became quite wealthy. In the year 816, Louis the Pious awarded the monastery the right to maintain boats upon the Saône, the Rhône and the Doubs rivers and to be exempt from taxes for passage. In 861, Charles the Bald confirmed a decree of immunity and protection for the monastery. In 1549, the abbey was secularized and became a college of canons. The college of canons was replaced in 1741 by an establishment for aged or infirm priests. At the Revolution, everything remaining on the island was sold and dispersed.

A Map of the Monastery and the Island

Despite its decline, l'Île Barbe remained a significant place of pilgrimage and cultural importance. In time the island became a protected site with a public part and a private part, offering visitors a glimpse into its rich history and the legacy of its past. We have enjoyed strolling through the park on the island, looking at the remains of the monastery, gazing at the private homes there, and walking around the 16th century "The Château de l'Île Barbe" that became an upscale hotel/restaurant that is no longer in business.

Classified as a historical monument but abandoned for several years, The Château de l'Île Barbe was sold at auction for €1.35 million, twice the asking price, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. Guillaume Langlois, real estate developer with the Palauma company, purchased the château.  “We are going to turn it into a hotel residence on the outskirts of Lyon," Mr. Langlois said. This exceptional property will require an estimated 3 million euros in major renovation work.  Some of that renovation work has already begun.

The Château de l'Île Beard

To be continued…

Back in Lovely Lyon

Good Grief!  It's hard to imagine that we’ve been back in Lovely Lyon for over a month and haven’t published a single blog post!  

So, what have we been doing?  Well, here’s a very brief recap of our activities. (You’ll notice that a lot of our activities revolve around food, wine, and friends.)

We arrived in Lyon the evening of April 1^st.  Our good friends, Dominique and Roger invited us over for Easter dinner on April 5^th.  (We were approaching awake and compos mentis by then.)  

On Tuesday, the 7^th we went to see Laurent (at Estelle and Laurent’s home) to retrieve David’s bicycle after Laurent had stored, taken care of it, and even beautifully detailed it during our absence.   (On the way home, David noticed that the electric bike would cut out randomly – more on this in a later post.) 

(For any of you coming into our blog for the first time, Estelle and our daughter participated in an exchange when they were 15 and 16 years old. Since then Estelle has met and married Laurent and had two sons who are now adults. We have been close friends ever since that initial exchange and are considered part of Estelle's extended family and vice versa.  Paul, her elder son, has actually visited us in the US.) 

Okay - back to eating and friends. On Thursday, the 9^th, Anna went over to Dominique’s and had a quick lunch with her.  

Friday, the 10^th, we went to Laurent and Estelle’s to see Paul who was home on leave from the Army until his next training session, and also to enjoy Laurent’s delicious, barbecued lunch and lots and lots of conversation. 

L to R David, Laurent, Paul, Estelle

Then on Monday, the 13^th, we had lunch with Estelle near where she works in Lyon. 

On Wednesday, the 15^th, Dominique and Roger came to our apartment for lunch. On Sunday, the 19^th, we were at Dominique and Roger’s for lunch again.  Then, the next day, Monday, the 20^th, eight of us gathered at a restaurant to celebrate Dominique’s birthday. 

L to R - David, Dominique (the birthday girl), Elizabeth Juvet (in the bike group), Catherine Zervos and her husband Tony (in the bike group), John Robbins (in the bike group), Roger, and Anna.

On Wednesday, the 22^nd, David went to a men’s lunch.  

On Tuesday, the 28^th, Nathalie and Stéphane, our good friends and current landlords, came to dinner at our apartment. The dinner was preceded by a little surprise drama when Nathalie's car's windshield wipers decided to quit working during a heavy rainstorm. The dinner main dish was fortunately one that could just happily continue to simmer until Nathalie and Stéphane were able to arrive.  It was great to see them again!

And, on Thursday the 30^th, we went to the monthly Del Cano lunch. (Del Cano is actually a group of mostly retired Brits who welcomed us into their monthly lunch group years ago.)

Whew!  Guess we were busier that we realized.  However, we didn't ONLY enjoy various meals.  We promise there will be more info in the next posts.