The Guillotière Bridge And The Hotel-dieu. Lyon. Engraving. Under Glass. Eighteenth Century. Anonymous.

The Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon and the Guillotière bridge under Louis XVI at the end of the 18th century. We owe this representation of the Rhône and urban buildings by an anonymous watercolorist, immortalized on our engraving. Begun at the end of the 12th century, the project is financed by offerings and legacies. The "first bridge" was completed in the 13th century. Rebuilt partly in stone and partly in wood, it suffered numerous damages during the Crusaders' passages (13th century) then during violent floods (15th-16th centuries). It was then rebuilt in stone in a homogeneous manner in the second half of the 16th century. On October 11, 1711, the bridge was the scene of a tragedy, the “tumult of the Rhosne bridge”. In the 18th century, it was the only bridge available to cross the Rhône. One evening, a collision between Catherine de Servient's carriage and a cart prevented passage over the bridge. The crowd crashes against this obstacle. Result: 241 victims including 25 drowned and 216 people crushed to death against the barricade. Since 1952, it has had a metal structure. Today, it is one of the emblems of the city.