Lyon: Historical Tour of Brothels Through the Centuries｜France

This tour follows a chronological thread to tell the story of how Lyon, depending on the era, tolerated, regulated, relocated, and then erased places dedicated to the "economy of intimacy" and brothels.
We begin in the Middle Ages, when certain areas near the Saône and the shopping streets were home to bath houses (“étuves”) and popular spaces where travelers, artisans, boatmen, and authorities would meet. Moving on to the Renaissance and the Old Regime, we see the rise of prohibitions, sermons, regulations, and attempts at moral control in the city: neighborhoods change, words change, but the practices remain at the heart of urban tensions.
The journey continues into the 19th century, the era of public health and modern administration: the emergence of more systematic surveillance, the role of medicine, police reports, registers, and the press. During the Belle Epoque, the city becomes a social theater where appearance, nightlife, respectability, and secrecy coexist. 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, place names, archives... and in our silences?
Throughout the walk: historical context, images and documents, interpretation of the "invisible" places, without voyeurism — with special attention to the journeys of those who lived in these spaces.