Rue Sylvain Simondan

Sylvain Simondan. A name etched onto a street sign, a street winding its way through the Cité Edouard Herriot in Lyon. Rue Sylvain Simondan. It begins facing the bustling Rue Docteurs Cordier, marked by a sign announcing the entrance to the Cité. The street then climbs, twisting and turning, ending in a quiet impasse amidst the buildings of the Cité, just past the Chemin de Montessuy. Rue Sylvain Simondan isn’t just a collection of buildings and pavement. It’s a story told in concrete and steel, a story interwoven with the life of a young resistance fighter. Sylvain Simondan, born in 1924, gave his life for France in 1944 in the Haardt Forest near Mulhouse. His memory lives on here, in this street that bears his name. As you walk along Rue Sylvain Simondan, imagine the city as it was in the 1960s when the Cité Herriot was new. Picture the street’s transformation since 2003, with old buildings making way for new ones. The row of small, two-story buildings, each slightly offset from the next, curves gently along the street. This is a relatively recent addition to Rue Sylvain Simondan, part of its ongoing evolution. At one point, Rue Sylvain Simondan passes a large retaining wall, punctuated by an old gate. This wall guards a large three-story house and a smaller one, accessible by a small alleyway. Further along, the street climbs westward, offering glimpses of a housing development to the north and a community center, Pôle 9, to the south. This community center, with its sports fields and cultural activities, stands as a testament to the vibrancy of the neighborhood. It’s a place where people gather, where community thrives, a stark contrast to the wartime sacrifices of Sylvain Simondan. Rue Sylvain Simondan. A quiet street in Lyon, holding within its curves the echoes of history and the promise of the future.