Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Gothic portal of decapitated saints, scarred by a sixteenth-century religious riot never repaired.
This guide to Cathedrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Lyon opens at the west front, where hundreds of carved figures ring the doorways and dozens stand headless, damage frozen since a Protestant raid on the second of May 1562. It follows the Baron des Adrets and his soldiers as they sacked the cathedral, melted its bells and stripped its treasury, and even draws in John Calvin, who wrote to condemn what was done in his cause. You'll hear how the cathedral's own astronomical clock, silenced that same day, waited a century for a clockmaker named Guillaume Nourrisson to bring it back to life. Stand at the west portals as you listen, and count how many faces are missing.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.