Le Roi Soleil

Lyon (French pronunciation: [ljɔ̃] ( listen) locally [lijɔ̃]; Occitan: Lion; Arpitan: Liyon, IPA: [ʎjɔ̃]; English: /liːˈɒn/ or anglicized as Lyons/ˈlaɪ.ənz/), is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at 470 km (292 mi) from Paris, 320 km (199 mi) from Marseille, 160 km (99 mi) from Geneva, 280 km (174 mi) from Turin, and 600 km (373 mi) from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.

The city of Lyon has 480,660 inhabitants. Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Lyon forms the largest agglomeration (metropolitan area) in France with the population of its urban area estimated to be 1,422,331 (Paris having no agglomeration) and the second urban area with 1,757,180. Its urban region represents half of the Rhône-Alpes region population with 2.9 million inhabitants. Lyon is the capital of this region, as well as the capital of the smaller Rhône département.

The Place Bellecour is a large town square in Lyon, France, to the north of the Ainay district. Measuring 312 m by 200 m (62,000 m²), it is the largest clear square (i.e., without any patches of greenery, trees or any other kind of obstacles) in Europe, and the third biggest square of France, behind the place des Quinconces in Bordeaux (126,000 m²) et the place de la Concorde in Paris (86,400 m²). It is also the largest pedestrian square of Europe, the places mentioned above can accommodate vehicles, as opposed to the Place Bellecour.

In the middle is a statue of king Louis XIV mounted on a horse, made by François-Frédéric Lemot in 1825. Another statue, representing the Petit Prince and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is located at the west end of the square.

Two pavilions are also on the square. The first houses the tourist information office of Lyon, the second an art gallery.

The square belongs to the zone classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.