Prison Saint-Paul

Prison Saint-Paul is a large stone building originally built to hold prisoners and now on the site of a university. Its structure divides into separate sections and shows how builders in the 19th century created sturdy structures to contain and separate people.

Construction began in 1865 following plans for a system with separate sections for different purposes. The building was an example of new thinking about prison design across Europe at that time.

The building shows 19th-century ideas about how to design and run a prison, and you can still see the original layout when you walk through it. The way the spaces are arranged tells you something about what people believed in back then.

The building is now part of a university and can generally only be visited during special tours or events. It is worth checking in advance whether visits are possible.

Two different types of stone were used in the construction, giving the building a particular look that many visitors overlook. If you look closely, you can see how the outer walls are built from different layers of material.

Location: 2nd arrondissement of Lyon

Architects: Louis-Pierre Baltard

GPS coordinates: 45.74640,4.82701

Latest update: December 8, 2025 19:53