Île Barbe

The Île Barbe is an island situated in the middle of the Saône, in the 9th arrondissement de Lyon, the quartier Saint-Rambert-l'Île-Barbe (a former-commune annexed in 1963).

Its name comes from the Latin insula barbara, "Barbarians' Island", suggesting that it was one of the last locales to be occupied (two centuries after the banks of the Saône at the foot of the hill of Fourvière).

Only the northern part of the Ile may be visited (about one-half of the island) which consists of old private homes and a few vestiges of religious buildings.

One also may find a gastronomic restaurant, of the chain Relais & Châteaux, the « Auberge de l'Île ».

The Ile is composed of a public part – terrains for pétanque, a large lawn, a children's playground – and a private part reached via two roads, l'impasse Saint-Loup for reaching the Auberge and the chemin du Bas-Port leading to the Saône).