Six rare photographs taken by Jean-François Armbruster just before the Franco-Prussian War reveal Lyon’s skyline as it stood before the Basilica of Fourvière, before modern urban planning, and before history would change the city forever.
In the summer of 1869, Lyon-based photographer Jean-François Armbruster captured a sweeping 350° panorama from the top of his building at 11 Place Croix-Paquet, on the slopes of Croix-Rousse.
Over thirteen carefully timed exposures between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., he documented the city in extraordinary detail — from the rooftops of the silk workers' district to the Rhône riverbanks, from the Presqu’île’s urban restructuring to the unbuilt hill of Fourvière.
These photos offer a rare visual record of Lyon before the Basilica, before the Franco-Prussian War, and before the upheavals of the Commune in 1870–71. Through Armbruster’s lens, we rediscover a Lyon in transition — caught between empire and insurrection, craft and industry, silence and transformation.
