The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, constructed between 1872 and 1896, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The locals believe Mary saved the city of Lyon from the Black Plague in 1643, cholera in 1832, and the Prussian invasion in 1870.
After the Franco–Prussian War the following year, the people of Lyon chose to make their devotion to Mary better known through the construction of a new church. Built with private funding, the church was set on top of Fourvière Hill on the site of a Roman forum; the word “fourvière” is derived from the Latin “forum vetus,” or “old forum.”
Like the Sacré-Coeur in Paris, the basilica in Lyon was built to hold back the growth of socialist communes. Its construction marked a return to religion and tradition.
French architect Pierre Bossan and his assistant Louis Sainte-Marie Perrin designed the church in the historicism style, an architectural trend combining different architectural styles. Developed in 19th-century Europe, historicism is also known as revivalist or eclectic architecture. Bossan designed Fourvière in the Neo-Byzantine style (round arches, vaults, domes, and decorative mosaics), adding some Gothic and Romanesque touches.
The design features four towers, a central dome, and two churches consisting of a lower crypt and an upper church. The lower structure acts as a shrine to St. Joseph, and the upper church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The upper church is particularly impressive with its three naves, Byzantine vaulted ceilings, and Gothic arches supported by 16 Romanesque columns. It also features six wall mosaics created by painters Charles Lameire and Georges Décote.
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