The story of Place des Terreaux
The square takes its name from the "terreaux", ditches filled with earth that once marked the northern edge of the old city between the Rhône and the Saône. The 17th-century Hôtel de Ville stands on its east side, and the Palais Saint-Pierre, a former Benedictine abbey, houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts.
The monumental fountain was made by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. It was designed for Bordeaux, which could not afford it, so Lyon bought it and installed it here in 1892. Its four wild horses represent the rivers rushing to the sea.
