Photo : Romainbehar / Wikimedia Commons (domaine public, CC0)
Vienne
Vienne is a town of the Isère in the Rhône valley, about twenty kilometres south of Lyon, at the confluence of the Rhône and the Gère. It has about 31,800 inhabitants, for an urban area of more than 100,000 people. It is surrounded by hills, the Télégraphe hill of which reaches 408 metres.
The town has a rich ancient heritage: the Temple of Augustus and Livia, the Roman theatre and the Pyramid of the Circus. On the other bank of the Rhône, the archaeological site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal completes this ensemble. Saint-Maurice cathedral dominates the old centre.
In modern times, industry developed there from the eighteenth century. Since 1981, Vienne has become known for the Jazz à Vienne festival, held every summer in the ancient theatre.
