Lyon City Map Poster

About Lyon

The name of the city derives from the Gaulish "Lugdunum" (or "Lugudunum"). The first known inhabitants, the Celts, called it ""Caer Olis"" which means 'the fortress of Olis'. During antiquity and Roman times, Lyon was known as Lugdunum. It has been referred to as such by some historians although this has been challenged on linguistic grounds. In fact, in all Celtic languages (including Gaulish), a city's name meant its 'fortress', for example: ""Caer Oesc"", literally "[Fortress] City". This is probably due to an etymological evolution in Celtic languages whereby "-dūnon" became "-lūn(a)" when preceded by a consonant cluster containing another "l"-sound; compare cognate Luguvalium with Germanic Lüneburg or English Lunenburg ('fortified place').