Secret Tunnels in Lyon
I live in the historic district of the city, known as Vieux Lyon (literally meaning old). This part of town is home to gorgeous architecture and pastry shops, but its coolest feat is its collection of secret tunnels. Known in French as “traboules”, they link streets through alleys or tunnels in between buildings. Some of the most famous or longest traboules have plaques at their entrance, informing passerbys of their existence. More often than not, however, traboules are unmarked. Meaning, the only way to identify them is by opening the huge doors covering Lyon, and hoping they lead to a walkthrough. They might sound risky, but Lyon is proud of its traboules, and pays to keep them clean and safe, even closing them after 8pm. While these tunnels are fun to observe, they also have historical significance. Lyon was the capital of the France’s Free Zone during World War II, and traboules were used as hiding places and escape routes for Jewish people and members of the French Resistance. Due to the necessary secrecy of traboules at the time, many remain unknown to this day, even by locals. I’ve had so much fun discovering traboules, and highly recommend anyone traveling to Lyon to do the same.
Au Revoir,
Ava L
Ava L is a psychology major studying at the Université Catholique de Lyon. She is currently taking part of the university’s exchange program, and all her classes are in French. She loves living abroad so far, and can’t wait to share her journey with you all.
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