Place Croix-Paquet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Place Croix-Paquet (French pronunciation: [plas kʁwa pakɛ] ⓘ) is a square located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, in the pentes de la Croix-Rousse quarter. It is formed by the intersection of the Rue du Griffon, the Rue des Capucins and the Montée Saint-Sébastien. The square belongs to the zone classified World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
A cross was erected on the square in 1628[1] by the merchant Jean Paquet (also spelled Pâquet), who also owned the house at the corner of the Montée Saint-Sébastien and of the Rue René-Laynaud.[2] This cross replaced the Croix des Rameaux (Cross of the Palms), which had previously been cut by the Calvinists in 1562.[3] Apart from the cross which no longer exists, the square has retained the same form since the 17th century.[4]
The square received different names over time: it was successively named Place des Rameaux (1745), then Place du Séminaire (1810),[5] but also Croix du Griffon, then Place du Compère, then Place de la Croix des Rempeaux. In the early years of the eighteenth century, the penitents of Notre Dame de Lorette erected a chapel which was sold to the sculptor Chinard, then was replaced by a building.[6] The Grand Séminaire was at the place now occupied by the garden along the Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine.[2] Part of the space was occupied by the facilities of the rack and the funicular with the time (which were revised in 1976), which leads to La Croix-Rousse.[3] Among famous people who lived in the street are the designers Jaley (1788), Mathieu Durand (1810), and Lyon scholar Paul Saint-Olive (1872-1879).[6]
