Traboule

Traboules (from Latin transambulare via vulgar Latin trabulare meaning "to cross") are a type of passageway primarily associated with the city of Lyon, France, but also located in the French cities of Villefranche-sur-Saône, Mâcon, Saint-Étienne, along with a few in Chambéry). In Lyon, they were originally used by silk manufacturers and other merchants to transport their products.

Lyon

The first examples of traboules are thought to have been built in Lyon in the 4th century. Lacking water, the inhabitants moved to the banks of the Saône (in the 'lower town', at the foot of the Fourvière hill). The traboules thus allowed them to get from their homes to the river quickly and allowed the canuts on the La Croix-Rousse hill to get quickly from their workshops to the textile merchants at the foot of the hill. Thus the traboules of Lyon are located primarily in the 'old city' (5th arrondissement) and the Croix Rousse (1st and 4th arrondissements) and are often credited with helping prevent the occupying Germans from taking complete control of these areas during World War II. The "Traboule de la cour des Voraces" ("Traboule of the Voracious Court") is the most famous, located in the Croix-Rousse quarter. It is one of the landmarks of the Canut Revolts (Canut is a localm term for silk workers) and it is also the oldest reinforced concrete stairwell in Lyon.