Лион қаласының Беллькур алаңы

Public square in Lyon, France

Place Bellecour (plas bɛlkuʁ) is a large square in the centre of Lyon, France, to the north of the Ainay district. Measuring 312 m by 200 m (6.2 ha or 15 acres), it is one of the largest open squares (without any patches of greenery or trees) in Europe, and the third biggest square in France, behind the Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux (12.6 ha) and the Place de la Concorde in Paris (8.6 ha). It is also the largest pedestrian square in Europe:

In the late 12th century, the archbishop of Lyon had a vineyard there called Bella curtis (Beau jardin in French). Abandoned, the area became swampy. In 1562, François de Beaumont, baron des Adrets attacked Lyon, installed his soldiers on the "Pré de Belle cour". In 1604, Henry IV forced the Lyon City Council to acquire what by then had become a pasture in order to create a public square, but the heirs of the Archbishop challenged this order in court, resulting in an interminable trial. Many years later, in 1708, Louis XIV obtained the ownership of the square. In 1715, it became the Place Royale. Named Place Louis le Grand, it was adorned with a bronze statue of the king made by Martin Desjardins. Around the square, some buildings were then constructed whose façades were designed by Robert de Cotte, the first architect of Louis XIV. During the French Revolution, an altar dedicated to Liberty was erected on the square on 14 July 1790. The square changed its name and became the Place de la Fédération. A guillotine was installed here in 1792. The royal statue was destroyed in 1793, and the square was then named Place de l'Égalité. On 21 June 1800, Napoleon I, after his victory at Marengo, laid the foundation stone for new buildings. The square was renamed Place Bonaparte, later Place Napoléon. During the Bourbon Restoration, in 1825, a new statue of Louis XIV was erected. It was only under the French Third Republic that the square took its current name: Place Bellecour.

In the center of the square, there is an equestrian statue of Louis XIV by François Frédéric Lemot. It is accompanied, at his feet, by two allegorical statues of the Saône and the Rhône, created by the brothers Nicolas and Guillaume Costou in 1720. The base came from a village in the Beaujolais: Le Perréon. The first statue was created in 1713 and destroyed during the French Revolution, in 1793, to make cannon. In 1825, the current statue, sculpted in Paris by François Frédéric Lemot, was installed in the square. It was transported to Lyon in twelve days on a coupling drawn by twenty four horses. The entrance of the statue into the city was a festive occasion that attracted a big audience. There is also a statue of Antoine de Saint Exupéry sitting in front of the Little Prince. It was erected in 2000 for the centenary of the aviator's birth.