Football at Tony Garnier

Tony Garnier, the great architect from the beginning of the 20^th century, to whom we owe lots of monuments in Lyon, is the one who built the famous Gerland stadium in 1914 where the Olympique Lyonnais "plays at home" as we say in the football world.

At that time, the stadium was the third big order placed with the architect, after the Mouche slaughterhouses (the current Halle Tony Garnier) and the hospital which bears the name of the mayor of that period, Edouard Herriot.

It was also a question of surpassing Paris and to improve the fame of Lyon. Gerland was then the biggest Stade de France and the only one with Olympic dimensions. The objective was to win the organization of the 1920 Olympic Games. It was not the case, but the stadium was omni sports with its swimming pool, its terrain for ball games (football and rugby), an athletic terrain and even a terrain for ass races!

Prize-winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1899, Tony Garnier was invited to the Villa Medicis and absorbed the influences of antique architecture. He conceived his oval shape stadium with four monumental arches, galleries, terraces and arcs on the north bend. It is partially buried, just like an antique circus recently cleared.

The Olympique Lyonnais is now cramped in this architectural jewel although it is regularly reorganized, in particular for the Football World Cup in 1998. It should be replaced by another one three times bigger, but will continue to welcome events. It is an Ancient monument, need we remind you? ...