Place Sathonay
square in Lyon, France
The Place Sathonay (French pronunciation: [plas satɔnɛ] ) is a square located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, France, at the bottom of hill of La Croix-Rousse, in La Martinière quarter. It was named after Nicolas-Marie-Jean-Claude Fay de Sathonay, mayor of Lyon from 1805 to 1812, as a tribute for all the importants works undertaken under his presidency. The square is currently the third largest square in Lyon and belongs to the zone classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. According to Lyon geography agrégé Jean Pelletier, it is "one of the most interesting squares of Lyon", because of its harmonious proportions, its boundaries composed of buildings with beautiful 1920s facades, and its plantations, which brings "a charm tinged of poetry" and give it the appearance of a village square.
History
The former square
Before the deliberation of the municipal council on 22 August 1817, the square was called Place de la Déserte. According to the 1268 Tractatus de bellis, inhabitants of Lyon built fortifications in the Déserte to defend themselves from the ecclesiastical authority. In 1296, Blanche de Châlons, widow of the lord of Beaujeu, Rhone acquired from Jean Mallerie the parcel "proche de la porte nouvelle" (near the new gate) and founded in 1304 the monastery or abbey of the same name, which they gave to the Ladies of Saint Clair or Clarisses or which came under the rule of Saint Benoit. In 1318, Blanche de Châlons' son left the vine of the Varissonnière to the religious order, and in 1439, the businessman Pierre du Nyèvre transferred the Clos of the vine, which enlarged the field of Order of Poor Ladies. In 1745, their possessions were composed of a quadrilateral area bounded by the Rue du Sergent Blandan (south), the Montée des Carmélites (west), the Rue du Bon Pasteur (north) and the Montée de la Grande Côte (east).
From 1791, the property of religious congregations of the hill of La Croix-Rousse were sold and became a national property. The first property auction was that of the Carthusians in September 1791.
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