The city of Vienne is full of beautiful architecture, wonderful history, and just plain beautiful facades to enjoy it for long. I was passing in my road warrior trip of my belle France and briefly got into City center We were by Lyon on a grand tour and read about its cathedral (see post), so went for it, The city of Vienne is in the Isére department.38 of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region of my belle France . I like to do this post as an introduction in my black and white series, no pictures, Therefore, this is my take on
this is Vienne !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The City of Vienne is considered a place of omens by the Roman Empire, it is then qualified as “holy city” and compared to Bethlehem. Surrounded by hills, it becomes the location of a fortified city. The City is about 26 km south of Lyon, 39 km from Saint-Etienne, 66 km from Valence, 90 km from Grenoble, 251 km from Marseille, 417 km from Paris, and 497 km from our old home of Versailles,
Vienne is known for its toll barrier which is the largest in France , Previously, the A7 passed through the city center , This A7 aka Autoroute du soleil or Highway of the Sun which goes back to the North towards Paris via Lyon, and descends to the south towards Marseille, Avignon and Valence. There are three exits/sorties for Vienne : no 9 Vienne-Nord (Vienne North districts, Grenoble, Valence), no 10 Condrieu (Condrieu, Ampuis, Vienne southern districts) and no 11 Vienne-Sud (Vienne Quartiers south,
Some of the other things to see which needs a more in depth visit eventually are the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology, Museum of the Cloister of Saint-André-le-Bas and Museum of the Textile Industry. Also, the temple of Auguste and Livie. The Cybèle garden was an archaeological garden including arcades of the forum, municipal assembly room, houses and terraces. The ancient theater of Vienna, dating from the 1st century AD, it is now open to the city, its stands could accommodate up to 13,000 people. Every summer, it is the site of the famous Jazz Festival in Vienna. The ancient Odéon. The pyramid (monumental obelisk of the Roman circus. The Abbey Saint-Pierre de Vienne current Saint-Pierre archaeological museum, founded in the 6C by Léonien d’Autun and Duke Ansemond. The castle of La Bâtie sur le Mont Salomon (13C), The Abbey of Saint-André-le-Bas de Vienne, the Church and the Cloître de Saint-André-le-Bas, they were part of this former abbey founded In the 6C, the Saint-André-le-Haut de Vienne Abbey, an intramural monastery of nuns, which, according to tradition, was founded in the 6C by Léonien d’Autun and Duke Ansemond for Remila, the daughter of the latter. There is currently the court of honor, called the ambulance course, because the convent served as a hospital under the French revolution, the cloister and the disused church transformed into dwellings, The Halle des Bouchers (16C): Old Macel , vaulted market of the Jewish community, located in the old town of the Hebrews, now transformed into a contemporary art center. The municipal theater of Vienna with its 18C room.
A bit of history that I like tell us that the Celts arrive on this territory around the 5C BC. One of these tribes, that of the allobroges makes Vienne its capital and controls a vast territory which extends from Geneva to Mount Pilat, passing through Cularo (future City of Grenoble). On the age of 1C, was already called the capital of the Allobroges, the power of Rome was manifested in Gaul. The Roman Armée goes up the Rhône. The Allobroge territory is annexed and enters the new provincia (province, where the name of Provence will come from) which extends over south-eastern Gaul. It obtains the imperial privilege of surrounding itself with a wall from the 1C AD, This wall is 7.2 km long, the longest of Gaul; The enclosed area, about 250 ha, also makes it one of the largest cities in the Gallic provinces, It was in
Vienne that a Jewish colony appeared for the first time in Gaul, where Herod Archélaos was exiled, Ethnarch of Judea in the year 6 of our era. In the 4C, in 316 Constantine I temporarily stayed in Vienne. In 356 it was Julien’s turn to go through Vienne, and he took his winter districts in the year 360. On May 15, 392 Valentinian II died in his palace. Around 730, the city was attacked by the Sarrazins, who plunder the Rhône valley. It finds a leading role when the Carolingian Empire falls apart. In 844, Gérard II of Paris (brother-in-law of the emperor Lothaire I) received the Duchy of Lyon which includes the county of Vienne and Lyon in order to ensure its military command and to repel the raids of the Saracens still present in 842 in the Arles region,
Boson will finally be recognized King of Provence in 884.,on January 11, 887 he died in Vienne, and was buried in Saint-Maurice Cathedral. His wife Ermengarde daughter of Louis II The Young is named regent of the Kingdom of Provence with the help of Richard Le Vericier, brother of Boson. Louis III the blind, son of Boson and Ermengarde, was elected and crown King of Italy on October 5, 900, then Emperor of West from February 901 to July 905, made blind, he returned to Vienne, his capital of where he reigned over the kingdom of Provence until 911. Vienne then remained the capital of the Dauphiné, capital of the Kingdom of Provence, from 882 was capital of the Kingdom of Francia, and from 933 to 1032 Capital of the Kingdom of Arles . The kingdom constituted by his father, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to Franche-Comté, ended up being attached to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032, without heir to Rodolphe III , The beginning of the 14C is marked by the Council from Vienna from 1311-1312. The most influential personalities in all of Europe: cardinals and bishops, legates, are gathered in Vienne, around Pope Clément V and the King of France Philippe le Bel accompanied by his sons. The Assembly proclaims the dissolution of the order of the temple and the confiscation of the goods of the Templars,
Following the first working -class strike identified in history ,the “Grand Tric”, April 25, 1539, prestigious Lyon printers, distributors of knowledge, settled in Vienne the works of Mathias Bonhomme a printer in 1555, The first edition of the prophecies of Nostradamus are also rich in teaching, in July 1564, the young king of France Charles IX, during his great Tour de France organized by his mother Catherine de Médicis noted, that according to the dioceses, the year began either at Christmas in Lyon or Savoy or March 25 in Vienne, which caused confusion. In order to standardize his kingdom he promulgated the edict of Roussillon on August 9, 1564, and it was only since that date that the year begins in January, The Great War or WWI gave new breath to the Viennese industry which provides the army drapes to the troop The closures occur after WWII, and until 1995 (closure of the last spinning). During this period, the city continues, however, to attract a large workforce: Armenians fleeing the persecution of the end of the Ottoman Empire, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, then Maghrebis and Turks, they give the city a cosmopolitan character, The hillsides facing Vienne, Côtes-Rôties and Condrieux, and more recently the vineyard of the hillsides of Seyssuel, take over from the wines of Antiquity: “Taburnum, Sotanum, Ellincum” of the Vitis Vitis Allobrogica is at the origin of the serines family: Syrah, Viognier, wines deemed to be therapeutic for their medicinal virtues which help digestion and clean, praised by Pliny, by Martial, Celse, Columelle, Plutarch, although they are probably different from a taste point of view.
Vienne was registered in the national network of cities and counties of art and history.
The City of Vienne on its heritage sites : https://vienne.fr/nos-services/culture/patrimoine/
The Vienne Condrieu tourist office on the heritage of Vienne: https://en.vienne-condrieu.com/inspiration/heritage/
There you go folks, another wonder in my belle France indeed. It was a long road warrior trip and glad we stop by in Vienne, We shall be back eventually! Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Vienne as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 