Lyon. The Hôtel de Gadagne, now a museum, should have been called Pierrevive

Every Sunday, Le Progrès delves into the history of Lyon, both great and small. The history of its people and its heritage. This week, the story of the Hôtel de Gadagne. This complex of dwellings has become the Lyon History Museum and the Puppet Museum. Built towards the end of the 15th century by the Pierrevives, a wealthy Piedmontese spice-trading family, the buildings are a fine example of prestigious construction in Lyon.

In the 15th century, the Pierrevive family, a wealthy Italian family, extended the complex of buildings that stretched from Montée Saint-Barthélemy to what is now Rue Gadagne. Photo: Lyon Municipal Archives

The area was already very busy as early as the ^1st century AD. The Archaeological Service of the city of Lyon notes highly developed port activities at Lugdunum and mentions the location of storage warehouses in the basements of the buildings. Abandoned in the ^5th century, the site became a rubbish dump before being filled with natural sediment following several landslides. This abandonment seems to have continued until the ^14th century, when the site of a house, an icehouse, and several sculpted mullions were discovered. On the...

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