An abbey turned museum
A seventeenth-century Benedictine building with arcades and a stone courtyard.
Jastrow โ CC BY 2.5 ยท Corentin Eustacchi โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Two to three and a half hours depending on your interests. The collection is too large for one visit, and the common mistake is rushing everything and leaving with no clear memory. Pick two wings โ antiquities and painting, say โ and give them proper time.
Yes, and it is one of the reasons to visit Lyon. The collection is among the richest in France after the Louvre, and the decisive difference is that it is far quieter: you can stand in front of an important painting without a crowd, which is no longer possible in Paris.
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One of the most important art museums in France outside Paris, occupying a seventeenth-century Benedictine abbey on Place des Terreaux in the centre of Lyon. The collection is broader than visitors expect: ancient Egyptian material, pieces from Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, European painting from the medieval period to the twentieth century including major names in Dutch, Italian and French art, along with a sculpture hall and a very large coin collection. The arrangement makes it possible to cross two thousand years in two hours. The building is part of the experience: an inner courtyard with a garden and stone arcades, among the quietest places in central Lyon, and you can walk into it without a ticket. Plenty of residents sit there without visiting the museum at all. Practical points: the collection is very large, so do not try to see everything โ pick two wings. The museum usually closes two days a week, which is unusual, so check before going. Place des Terreaux in front of it holds the Bartholdi fountain and is a destination in itself.
A seventeenth-century Benedictine building with arcades and a stone courtyard.
Among the calmest spots in central Lyon, used by residents who never enter the galleries.
The Bartholdi fountain stands directly outside, a sight in its own right.
Place des Terreaux, former abbey of Saint-Pierre, Lyon