The Île Barbe is an island situated in the middle of the Saône, in the 9th arrondissement de Lyon, the quartier Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe (a former-commune annexed in 1963). Its name comes from the Latin insula barbara, "Barbarians' Island", suggesting that it was one of the last locales to be occupied (two centuries after the banks of the Saône at the foot of the hill of Fourvière).

Geography

History

An abbey was founded on the island in the 5th century. This was the first monastic establishment in the Lyon region and one of the oldest in all of Gaul. Charlemagne gave it a beautiful library. The monastery, pillaged several times – (in 676 and 725 by the Saracens, and in 937 by the Huns ), adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict règle de saint Benoît in the 9th century and gradually was enriched. In 816, Louis the Pious (Louis le Pieux) awarded to the monastery: At the beginning of the 16th century, the abbey passed into the ownership commende of the bénéfice of the Albon family famille d'Albon. In 1549, the abbey was secularised and the monks became a college of canons chanoines (collégiale). In 1562, it was looted and burned by Protestant troops troupes protestantes of the Baron des Adrets baron des Adrets. The chapter of canons chapitre des chanoines finally was suppressed in 1741, and an establishment for aged or infirm priests was established, which was suppressed in its turn in 1783. At the Revolution, everything remaining on the island was sold and dispersed.

The first bridge

In the 17th century, or in 1734, the architect Cotton constructed a wooden bridge which provided access to the Ile Barbe In 1827, a suspension bridge replaced it (it is the oldest in Lyon still in service). It is reached from the passerelle Masaryk and the passerelle Saint-Vincent), crossing the island at the level of its southern point and permitting the juncture of the left and right banks of the Saône, the villages of Saint-Rambert (today Lyon 9e) and of Caluire-et-Cuire. For more information about this suspension bridge one may consult the page here dedicated to Bridges of Lyon Ponts de Lyon. During the years 1870–1880, three well-reputed rowing clubs were located here: the Aviron Club de Lyon-Caluire, the Aviron Union Nautique de Lyon (6e club français) and the Cercle de l'Aviron de Lyon (5e club français).

List of abbots and church figures

Source : Gallia Christiana

Possessions of the abbey

Partial list of possessions held in its own name or in-fief by the abbey:

Lyonnais

Jarez

Forez

The Ile today

In the 21st century, the abbey consists of nothing more than the Romanesque église romane Notre-Dame. Only the northern part of the Ile may be visited (about one-half of the island) which consists of old private homes and a few vestiges of religious buildings. One also may find a gastronomic restaurant, of the chain Relais & Châteaux, the « Auberge de l'Île ». Also intact are some remains of a lodging reconstructed in about 1840 as the château de Saint-Rambert-l'Ile-Barbe or château du Fresnes, also the château du Chastelard of the 15th century, reconstructed in the 16th century. A dwelling place for several persons, posh and privileged, the Ile is reached by a 10-minute bus ride from the gare de Vaise (bus TCL 31 et 43 côté Lyon-St Rambert), and 15 minutes from the Place Bellecour (bus TCL 40 côté Caluire). The Ile is composed of a public part – terrains for pétanque, a large lawn, a children's playground – and a private part reached via two roads, l'impasse Saint-Loup for reaching the Auberge and the chemin du Bas-Port leading to the Saône). These two paths are not joined, the impasse Saint-Loup ends at the door to a private courtyard.

Access

Notes and references