Grand Temple de Lyon

The Grand Temple de Lyon is a French Protestant church on the banks of the Rhone, in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon. It is the property of the Reformed Church of Lyon and since July 28, 2011, a classified monument ( Monument historique classé ).

History

The church was constructed in 1884 by the Protestant architect Gaspard André ( 1840-1896 ). The service for the inauguration took place on 1 May 1884.

The work which began in 2010, complete renovation could be completed at the end of 2012. The cost of the project amounted to 3 million euros, of which 2.2 million euro was financed by public funds and the rest with donations.

Public Library

In addition to the hall for the service with about 900 seats, the building also contains an Evangelical Public Library. The library was founded on April 1, 1830, the Temple du Change, and transferred in 1889 in the Grand Temple. With the many public libraries in their environment, they could not keep long, so they stopped in 1926 their new purchases and 1930 closed permanently. The extraordinary thing about her is that she is still preserved in its original state. It contains about 4500 books on history, philosophy, theology, travel reports, and many novels for children and adults, collections of folk songs and magazines.

Organ

The organ dates from the organ builder Joseph Merklin ( 1819-1905 ). Her first owner Albert Périlhou they inaugurated on 26 May 1884. The instrument is historically significant because it was the first organ of Joseph Merklin, which was equipped with an electro - pneumatic action. The organ was destroyed by a fire in 1922, rebuilt in the following years of the company Michel, Merklin & Kuhn and provided with a mechanical- pneumatic action. In the 1960s, the organ builder Dunand made ​​some adjustments. The organ builder Promonet equips her during a 2002 restoration made ​​with a second mobile digital console.