Treasury of Lyon Cathedral

The medieval Treasury of Lyon cathedral was destroyed in 1562 by the Calvinist Baron des Adrets, who plundered it under Louis XIV and then pillaged it during the Revolution. In the wake of the Concordat, in the context of a new religious impetus, Cardinal Joseph Fesch, appointed to the diocese by his nephew Napoleon Bonaparte, donated part of his prestigious art collection: Byzantine capitals, tapestries from Flanders and Aubusson, and embroidered chasubles.

After him, Cardinal de Bonald continued to rebuild the lost treasury: Byzantine ivories, Limousin enamels, Italian Renaissance silverware and a gold-thread-embroidered cope. The prelate also commissioned goldsmiths in his city to make religious goldsmiths' pieces for use in worship in Lyon. The objects in the Treasury are all protected as historic monuments.

The "Manécanterie", which houses the Treasury, takes its name from the singing school for young clerics that occupied it from the 14th to the 19th century.