Lyon: Historical tour of the maisons closes through the centuries Lyon: Historical tour of the Maisons Clauses through the centuries

Explore Lyon's hidden history through places linked to intimacy, body control, and "houses of tolerance." A walk to understand how the city organized and then erased.
This tour follows a chronological thread to tell how Lyon, according to the times, tolerated, supervised, moved, and then erased places dedicated to the "economy of intimacy" and brothels.
We start in the Middle Ages, when certain areas near the Saône and the shopping streets were home to bathing establishments ("étuves") and popular spaces where travelers, artisans, boatmen, and authorities met. Moving towards the Renaissance and the Ancien Régime, we see the rise of prohibitions, sermons, regulations, and attempts at moral control in the city: neighborhoods change, words change, but practices remain at the heart of urban tensions.
The journey continues into the 19th century, a time of hygiene and modern administration: the emergence of more systematic surveillance, the role of medicine, police reports, registers, and the press. During the Belle Époque, the city became a social theater where appearance, night, respectability, and secrecy coexisted. Finally, we end in the 20th century with the gradual closure of these establishments and the question of memory: what remains today in the architecture, the toponyms, the archives... and in our silences?
Throughout the walk: historical context, images and documents, reading of "invisible" places, without voyeurism — with particular attention to the trajectories of those who have lived in these spaces.

To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.

This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.