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Church for martyrs
The church of Saint NIZIER is one of the great churches of Lyon, located in the neighborhood Presqu'ile, in the street of Brest. The Presqu'ile is shaped like a tongue of land between two rivers, the Rhone and the Saone, which later assembled on the tip of the presqu'ile. The first building on this site was a Roman temple at the time of the first Christians in Lyon, circa 170. In the fifth century,St. Eucher, bishop of Lyon, built it on the ruins of a basilica, and stories explain his reason was to establish a burial place for the martyrs of Lyon, killed in 177, one of them being St. Blandine, famous for having been eaten by lions.
The church was called the Church of the Holy Apostles, but Sarracines destroyed that church in the eighth century. Here stands a fourteenth century church, finished in the sixteenth century. It was robbed on several occasions, particularly during the French Revolution. Today, it is a place of refuge for causes, people without papers, protests against the government, but it is not a political place. In the church, named St. NIZIER visitors can view statues of the saint, and the towers asymmetrical. There is a crypt, chapels, and mosaics dedicated to the 48 martyrs of Lyon and the Virgin. A small flower market is situated behind.
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