The Palais de la Bourse or Palais du Commerce is a building located in the quarter Les Cordeliers

Les Cordeliers

Les Cordeliers is one of the central quarters in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, France. It is mainly known for the Place des Cordeliers in its center...

, in 2nd arrondissement of Lyon

2nd arrondissement of Lyon

The 2nd arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon.-History:The first five arrondissements of Lyon were created by the Decree of March 24, 1852, which included the 2nd arrondissement.The current mayor is Denis Broliquier....

. It currently houses the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 and Industry of Lyon. It is served by the metro station Cordeliers, and by bus lines C3, 18, 23, 25, 28, 58, 71 , 91 and 99.

It is bordered by the place des Cordeliers to the south, the place de la Bourse to the north, the Rue de la République

Rue de la République

Rue de la République is a street located in the 1st and 2nd arrondissements of Lyon. This is the main shopping street of the city. This zone is served by the metro stations Bellecour, Hôtel de Ville - Louis Pradel and Cordeliers...

 to the west and rue de la Bourse

Rue de la Bourse

The Rue de la Bourse is a street located mainly in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, and also in the 1st arrondissement. It starts on the Place des Cordeliers, in the 2nd arrondissement, in front of the Église Saint-Bonaventure, and ends at right angles to the Rue du Bât-d'Argent, beyond which it is...

 to the east.

In 1994, the building has been classified as monument historique

Monument historique

A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...

.

History

In 1853, the construction of the Palais du Commerce was decided, composing of a museum of art and industry, shops, the company of change agents and brokers in silk, the Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Court. On 4 August 1854, René Dardel, architect of the Pont La Feuillée, the covered halles located Rue de la Martinière, and the creation of the Rue Victor Hugo, was chosen by prefect of the Rhône Claude-Marius Vaïsse

Claude-Marius Vaïsse

Claude-Marius Vaïsse was a French politician, former prefect of Lyon, called the "Hausmann lyonnais".- Political career :...

 for the construction of the building.

The construction started in 1856 and the first stone was laid on 15 March. The building was inaugurated by Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie on 25 August 1860.

On 24 June 1894, president Sadi Carnot

Sadi Carnot

Sadi Carnot may refer to:*Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot , French physicist*Marie François Sadi Carnot , president of the third French Republic, and nephew of Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot...

 was assassinated leaving the building by the anarchist Caserio under the windows located on the rue de la République.

Architecture

The dimensions of the building are: 56.6 meters and 64.5 meters. It is composed of four corner pavilions and a central hall, called "Salle de la Corbeille".

The decoration of the building, both in its facades that its interior, reflects the destination of the building : the statues of Justice, the Temperance, Agriculture, Trade and Industry. The group around the clock on the facade is the work of Jean-Marie Bonnassieux

Jean-Marie Bonnassieux

Jean-Marie Bienaimé Bonnassieux was a French sculptor.The son of a cabinet maker from Lyon, Bonnassieux showed talent as a boy and was educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, under Augustin-Alexandre Dumont...

. The exterior white marble statue, near the stairs and the Place des Cordeliers, is an allegory that personified Saône

Saône

The Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the River Rhône. Rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department, it joins the Rhône in Lyon....

 and Rhône

Rhône

Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...

 joining their arms to point to the future. It was made in 1905 by sculptor Wermar.

The two fronts at north and south are richly decorated with many entablatures, balconies and columns. Most paintings of interior ceilings are the work of artists from Lyon such as Antoine Claude Ponthus-Cinier or Jean-Baptiste Beuchot.

Uses

Initially devoted to host many institutions, the Palais de la Bourse, now Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lyon hosted :

• The Commercial Court
  Commercial Court
  Commercial Court may refer to:* Commercial Court * Commercial Court * Commercial Court...
  
  
• The Company of brokers in silk and goods, until 1867
• The Employment Tribunal
  Employment tribunal
  Employment Tribunals are tribunal non-departmental public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, redundancy payments and employment...
  
   held its meetings until 1927
• The Crédit Lyonnais
  Crédit Lyonnais
  Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...
  
  , until 1934.