Universités

At the end of the XIX century (1876-1898), Abraham Hirsch designed and supervised the construction on the left bank of the Rhône of the two buildings which were to house the faculties of pharmacy and medicine. The sober, neoclassical style and the layout of the buildings are reminiscent of the prestigious Hôtel Dieu which Soufflot developed not far away on the right bank! Each of these buildings has a façade suited to the flow of the river as well as a central dome shaped building ! Well, does that remind you of anything? These two buildings nowadays form part of the universities of Lyons2 and Lyons3. A sad incident recently destroyed the major part of these two buildings (16-18 quai C. Bernard): on the 13th of June 1999, a fire destroyed the dome and the floors of the central building which housed the university library! A consider able loss since only part of the original stock was saved. Over 200000 works from the XIX-XX century were lost forever.