Fresque des Lyonnais

The Fresco of the People of Lyon, in Lyon

The Fresco of the People of Lyon is an immense trompe-l'œil that gathers the great figures of Lyon on an entire façade. The Lyon audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this spectacular work, a painted tribute to the famous personalities who marked the history of the town.

The trompe-l'œil of the great Lyon figures

The Fresco of the People of Lyon is one of the most famous murals of Lyon, a town renowned for its spectacular trompe-l'œil frescoes. Made on an immense blind façade, at the corner of the rue de la Martinière and the quay of the Saône, it covers a whole wall with a painted decor of a stunning realism, which seems to extend the real architecture. The work stages some thirty famous personalities who marked the history of Lyon, through the centuries and all the fields: there you recognise, leaning at the painted windows and balconies or seated at the café of the ground floor, figures like the Roman emperor Claudius, born in Lyon, the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the Lumière brothers, inventors of cinema, the chef Paul Bocuse, or the famous Guignol. This journey through the great names of the town, painted with humour and precision, makes the happiness of the passers-by who amuse themselves to recognise the faces. An emblematic work and a tribute to the Lyon identity, the Fresco of the People of Lyon is a must-see stop of the discovery of the town.

What to see

You admire the immense trompe-l'œil fresco that covers an entire façade at the corner of the rue de la Martinière and the quay of the Saône, staging some thirty famous personalities who marked Lyon, leaning at the painted windows and balconies, like the emperor Claudius, Saint-Exupéry, the Lumière brothers, Paul Bocuse and Guignol. The Fresco of the People of Lyon pays tribute to the identity of the town. It is a must-see stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Fresco of the People of Lyon lies at the corner of the rue de la Martinière and the quay of the Saône, on the Presqu'île of Lyon, reachable on foot. It is an open-air work, freely visible from the street. You discover it during a walk along the Saône.

Who figures on the Fresco of the People of Lyon in Lyon?

Some thirty famous personalities who marked the history of Lyon, leaning at the painted windows and balconies of this immense trompe-l'œil, like the Roman emperor Claudius, born in Lyon, the writer Saint-Exupéry, the Lumière brothers, inventors of cinema, the chef Paul Bocuse and the famous Guignol.

Where is the Fresco of the People of Lyon?

At the corner of the rue de la Martinière and the quay of the Saône, on the Presqu'île of Lyon, in France.