Place du Change and the Protestant Temple
Why is it significant?
Emerge into the open expanse of Place du Change, the historic beating heart of Renaissance commerce, international banking, and currency trade in Lyon.
Key Facts
| Place | Place du Change and the Protestant Temple |
|---|---|
| Address | Place du Change 2, 69005 Lyon, France |
| Geo Coordinates | 45.76450, 4.82800 |
| Part of Walk | Fourvière and Vieux Lyon: Roman Lugdunum, Hilltop Basilica, and Renaissance Traboules |
| Generated | Generated |
Emerge into the open expanse of Place du Change, the historic beating heart of Renaissance commerce, international banking, and currency trade in Lyon. Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, this bustling square served as the Wall Street of Renaissance Europe: during Lyon's four annual trade fairs granted by royal charter, money changers, merchant bankers from Florence, Genoa, Lucca, and Augsburg, and silk dealers gathered here to exchange bills of exchange and set European currency exchange rates. Dominating the square is the Temple du Change, originally constructed as the royal stock and currency exchange in 1653 and masterfully redesigned between 1747 and 1750 by the legendary neoclassical architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot. Soufflot fronted the exchange with a monumental loggia of four Ionic columns supporting an ornate clock and pediment, creating a temple to secular commerce that was converted in 1803 under Napoleon into a Protestant reformed church. The elegant square resonates with the memories of influential merchant dynasties, royal consuls, and international financiers who shaped European trade.
Look closely at the two dials on Soufflot's pediment: the clock face on the left tells the standard hour of the day, while the clock face on the right displays the calendar date and the equation of solar time, a vital metric for international financiers.
Across the square stands the Maison Thomassin at number 2, one of the oldest residences in Lyon, with a fourteenth-century Gothic facade decorated with heraldic shields and mullioned windows.
Listen to the acoustic echoes between the stone facades: during the Renaissance fairs, over twenty distinct languages were spoken simultaneously on this square as goods from the Orient were traded for northern wools and Flemish tapestries.
Walk north into Rue Juiverie to discover the hidden courtyard gallery designed by Philibert Delorme.