About
Place Bellecour sits in the heart of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is one of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe, a broad open space paved in red clay that gives the city centre a sense of room and light.
What to see
- The equestrian statue of Louis XIV, which stands at the centre of the square and anchors the whole layout.
- Elegant 19th-century buildings that line the edges of the plaza, giving it a uniformly grand architectural frame.
- Views of Lyon's hills, which open up across the square and are among the reasons visitors linger here.
What kind of visit it makes
Because the square is pedestrian, it suits an unhurried walk rather than a quick stop. Visitors come to cross it, sit for a while, and watch the city move through it. It is a good place to begin exploring the centre, since the surrounding streets lead off in several directions toward the older parts of town and the riverbanks.
For a visitor deciding whether to go, Place Bellecour is best approached as an open-air part of everyday city life in Lyon: a place to see the city's scale and its hills, with its statue and façades as the setting.
