A new place for shopping in Lyon. I’m so happy!

But let’s be fair, the shopping center inside the Grand Hotel Dieu, even if so impressive, it is just a little part of everything that this amazing monument offers. Because it is also:

• A historical place in Lyon with a very interesting history

• A really beautiful place to visit in Lyon
• A place for culture visit to discover more of Lyon and its history for free
• A place to eat – full of very good restaurants

• A place to stay – a real hotel with the five-star Intercontinental Resorts on the Rhone facade, a convention center, a few accommodations in an International City of Gastronomy still to come
• A place to relax inside a busy city center, in a little garden of the Grand Hotel Dieu

• And finally a place ideal for the posh shopping in Lyon

So let me tell you the real story of the Grand Hotel Dieu and present you briefly the new shopping experience which Lyon offers thanks to the Grand Hotel Dieu. Are you ready?

The story behind the Grand Hotel Dieu

The Grand Hotel Dieu was built in the 12th century by the Order of the Pontifical Brothers. It was originally a modest hospital, also called “Pont du Rhône Hospital”.

In the 15th century, the municipality of Lyon bought the building in order to enlarge it. The building acquired additional places to accommodate 200 patients. They called it the Grand Hotel-Dieu. The hospital chapel was also been built to serve the patients.

In the 18th century, the Grand Hotel-Dieu has already became the building that we know today: a richly decorated white stone facade, a large dome to renew the air of the common rooms and the statues of the King Childebert I and Queen Ultrogothe (the founders of the first hospital in 549).

But this was not enough, in the 19th century, the hospital has been again enlarged to accommodate nearly a thousand patients.

An interesting fact is that at the beginning of the 20th century, the mayor of Lyon, Edouard Herriot, planned the destruction of the Grand Hôtel-Dieu in order to build the Edouard Herriot Hospital. This  project has been canceled because the building has been classified as a historical monument. Instead, the Grand Hotel-Dieu became a hospital-university center dependent on the Hospices Civils de Lyon and all its services have been transferred to other establishments to allow its transformation into a historical monument to visit and the shopping center… which we can enjoy today!

The new shopping experience in Lyon, in the Grand Hotel Dieu

Fifty shops and restaurants on the ground floor, sounds tempting to you? I bet there will be more, but even for me, a real shopalcoholic, 50 is far enough. The shopping center inside the Grand Hotel Dieu, is structured around 4 worlds:

• The Cour du Midi, dedicated to fashion and lifestyle
• The Court Saint-Martin, dedicated to the house and decoration
• The Elisabeth Court, dedicated to the eating with such restaurants as: Beefhouse, Mer & Vigne, Buddha Bar, Cafe Mokxa, Second Cup, Artisan de la Truffe, Miss Paradis
• The Cloitre Court, dedicated to cosmetics and beauty

Here you are just a few famous brands you can find in the Grand Hotel Dieu shopping center: Maison Montagut, Bobbies, Citadium, AM.PM, Blanc – Cerise, ObboObo – Design, Brochier Soieries, Aroma – zone, Clarins, Alexandre de Paris etc.

I have found my favourite ones and you?

So, will you now agree with me that the Grand Hotel Dieu is a new WOW place in Lyon, in France definitely worth a visit? Have fun exploring and here you can do it virtually! So cool!