Lyon, also known as Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France. Its name is pronounced  in French and Arpitan, and /liˈɒn/ or /laiənz/ in English. Lyon is the second-largest French urban area, the first being Paris and the third Marseille. It is a major centre of business, situated between Paris and Marseille, and has a reputation as the French capital of gastronomy and having a significant role in the history of cinema. The local professional football team, Olympique Lyonnais, has increased the profile of Lyon internationally through participation in European football championships. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.

Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Lyon forms the second-largest metropolitan area in France after that of Paris, with a population estimated to be 1,783,400 in 2007. Its "urban region" (Région Urbaine de Lyon), represents half of the Rhône-Alpes région population with three million inhabitants. Lyon is also a major industrial center specialized in chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. There is also a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games.

Lyon is the préfecture (capital) of the Rhône département, and also the capital of the Rhône-Alpes région. The city is known for its historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lyon was historically known as the silk capital of the world. It also hosts the international headquarters of Interpol and Euronews.

Lyon was founded on the Fourvière hill as a Roman colony in 43 BCE by Munatius Plancus, a lieutenant of Caesar, on the site of a Gaulish hill-fort settlement called Lug[o]dunon, from the Celtic god Lugus ('Light', cognate with Old Irish Lugh, Modern Irish Lú) and dúnon (hill-fort). Lyon was first named Lugdunum meaning the "hill of lights" or "the hill of crows". Lug was equated by the Romans to Mercury.

Agrippa recognized that Lugdunum's position on the natural highway from northern to south-eastern France made it a natural communications hub, and he made Lyon the starting point of the principal Roman roads throughout Gaul. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly thanks to its convenient location at the convergence of two navigable rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in this city: Claudius and Caracalla. Today, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as "le primat des Gaules" and the city often referred to as the "capitale des Gaules".

The Christians in Lyon were persecuted for their religion under the reigns of the various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. Local saints from this period include saints such as Blandina (Blandine), Pothinus (Pothin) , and Epipodius (Épipode), among others.

The great Christian bishop of Lyon in the 2nd century was the Easterner Irenaeus.

Burgundian refugees from the destruction of Worms by Huns in 437 were resettled by the military commander of the west, Aëtius, at Lugdunum, which was formally the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom by 461.

In 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair I, and later became a part of the Kingdom of Arles. Lyon only came under French control in the fourteenth century.

Fernand Braudel remarked, Historians of Lyon are not sufficiently aware of the bi-polarity between Paris and Lyon, which is a constant structure in French development from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution (Braudel 1984 p. 327). The fairs in Lyon, the invention of Italian merchants, made it the economic countinghouse of France in the late 15th century. When international banking moved to Genoa, then Amsterdam, Lyon simply became the banking centre of France; its new Bourse (treasury), built in 1749, still resembled a public bazaar where accounts were settled in the open air. During the Renaissance, the city developed with the silk trade, especially with Italy; the Italian influence on Lyon's architecture can still be seen. Thanks to the silk trade, Lyon became an important industrial town during the 19th century.

Lyon was a scene of mass violence against Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacres in 1572.

During the French Revolution, Lyon uprose against the National Convention and supported the Girondins. In 1793, the city was under siege for over two months, assaulted by the Revolutionary armies, before eventually surrending. More than 2,000 people were executed and several buildings were destroyed, especially around the Place Bellecour. A decade later, Napoleon himself ordered the reconstruction of all the buildings demolished during this period.

The silk workers of Lyon, known as canuts, staged two major uprisings: in 1831 and 1834. The 1831 uprising saw one of the first recorded uses of the black flag as an emblem of protest. The world's first funicular railway was built between Lyon and La Croix-Rousse in 1862.

Lyon was a centre for the occupying German forces and also a stronghold of resistance during World War II, and the city is now home to a resistance museum. (See also Klaus Barbie.) The traboules, or secret passages, through the houses enabled the local people to escape Gestapo raids.

• Since the Middle Ages, the Arpitans, residents of the region, speak several dialects of Arpitan language. The Lyonnais dialect was partly replaced by the French language as the importance of the city grew. However, it is still alive and, in addition, some "frenchified" Arpitan words can also be heard in the French of the Lyonnais, who call their little boys and girls "gones" and "fenottes" for example.
  
• Lyon was an early centre for printing books, and nurtured a circle of 16th century poets.
  
• The Lumière brothers invented cinema in the town in 1895. The Musée Lumière is there as a testimony, hosting many of their first inventions.
  
• December 8th each year is marked by "la Fête des lumières" (the Festival of Lights), a celebration of thanks to the Virgin Mary, who purportedly saved the city from a deadly plague in the Middle Ages. During the event, the local population places candles (lumignons) at their windows and the city of Lyon organizes impressive large-scale light shows onto the sides of important Lyonnais monuments, such as the medieval Cathédrale St-Jean.
• The church of Saint Francis of Sales is famous for its large and unaltered Cavaillé-Coll pipe organ, attracting audiences from around the world. Lyon also features a renowned opera house.
• Lyon is also the French capital of "trompe l'œil"-walls, a very ancient tradition. Many are to be seen everywhere around the city. This old tradition is now expending in a contemporary expression .
• The Brothers of the Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic congregation that operates schools in Europe and North America, was founded in Lyon in 1821.
• The African Museum of Lyon is one of the oldest museums situated in Lyon.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Saint-Jean and the Croix-Rousse areas, which are noted for their narrow passageways (traboules) that pass through buildings and link the streets either side, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998.

Gastronomy

For several centuries Lyon has been known as the French capital of gastronomy, due, in part, to the presence of many of France's finest chefs in the city and its surroundings (e.g. Paul Bocuse). This reputation also comes from the fact that two of France's best known wine-growing regions are located near Lyon: the Beaujolais to the North, and the Côtes du Rhône to the South. Beaujolais wine is very popular in Lyon and remains the most common table wine served with local dishes.

Lyon is the home of very typical and traditional restaurants: the bouchons. Bouchons are usually convivial restaurants serving local dishes, and local wines.

Lyon is famous for its morning snacks, the mâchons, made up of local charcuterie and usually accompanied by Beaujolais red wine. Traditional local dishes include saucisson de Lyon (sausage), andouillette, coq au vin, esox (pike) quenelle, gras double (tripe cooked with onions), salade lyonnaise (lettuce with bacon, croutons and a poached egg), marrons glacés and cardoon au gratin.

Main sights

These are the main sights of Lyon.

Buildings

• Place Bellecour
• Tour métallique de Fourvière (1894)
• Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
• Sainte Marie de La Tourette monastery (1960) designed by Le Corbusier
• Saint-Exupéry International Airport (formerly Satolas Airport, 1975), designed by Guillaume Gilbert.
• Opéra National de Lyon, renovated in 1993 by Jean Nouvel.
• Lyon Airport Railway Station (1994) by Santiago Calatrava.
• Cité Internationale (1998), designed by Renzo Piano.
• Cathédrale Saint-Jean
• Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.
• Basilica of St-Martin-d'Ainay.
• The church of St-Martin-d'Ainay is one of the rare surviving Romanesque basilica-style churches in Lyon.
• The doorway of St. Nizier's (fifteenth century) was carved in the sixteenth century by Philibert Delorme.
• La Mouche Cattle Market and Abbatoir (1914, 1928), designed by Tony Garnier.
• The Roman ruins on the hillside near the Fourviere Basilica, and the accompanying Gallo-Roman Museum.
• The Medieval Quarter of town, with cobbled streets, shops, and dining.
• Tour Oxygène
• Tour Incity

Parks and gardens

• Jardin botanique de Lyon
• Parc de la Tête d'Or