At the end of the 19th centurye century, major urban developments were undertaken in Saint-Paul. The construction of the station led to the demolition of many old buildings and a complete restructuring of the neighborhood. Thus, in 1902, the City of Lyon entrusted the architect Eugène Huguet with the construction of an immense building, on the banks of the Saône, with the main aim of housing the Lyon Conservatory which, at the time, had not , no dedicated place.
Construction was completed two years later, in 1904. The main façade, pierced by five large windows overlooking the Quai Bondy, has two entrances with a semi-circular staircase which provides access to a vast atrium and two concert halls.
The first, called the Molière room, owes its name to the fact that the famous playwright performed his first play The stunned in a tennis court room located on this site. Thanks to its excellent acoustics, it remains very popular with music lovers today and is said to be one of the best chamber music concert halls in Lyon. The second, smaller, is called the Witkowski Hall.
An important collection of puppets
On the first floor of the Palais de Bondy are two exhibition rooms: the Grand Salon and the Salon à Rotondes. These, covered with glass roofs renovated in 2015, mainly host painting salons. Finally, in the basement, the building houses the only Guignol municipal theater in Lyon. It was in 1966 that the heirs of the puppeteer troupe of Lyonnais Laurent Mourguet moved from Quai Saint-Antoine to settle in Old Lyon. A large number of puppets, more than 260, now come to life thanks to Compagnie MA, which has been hosting shows since 2018.
Currently, the building is labeled 20th Century Heritagee century is under construction. The City of Lyon has ordered the closure of the entire building in order to carry out work to bring it up to standard. This municipal decree also concerns the puppet theater which, in the meantime, performs outside its walls in Brindas, Lyon, Décines-Charpieu and even in Paris.
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