Guillotière Cemetery is the name of two adjacent but associated cemeteries in Lyon, France. The two cemeteries are distinguished according to when they were built: the new cemetery was built in 1854 and the old cemetery in 1822. They are situated in the La Guillotière neighborhood of the city, in the 7th and 8th arrondissements, just south of Parc Sergent Blandan. They were built to address the shortage of burial spaces in the city. The old cemetery is just north of the new cemetery, and the two are separated by Avenue Berthelot and the railroad tracks connecting Perrache and Part-Dieu railway stations. The new cemetery is the largest in Lyon at.
History
Before the end of the 17th century only small church cemeteries existed in Lyon. In 1695 a cemetery named "Cimitière de la Madeleine" was built to accommodate the dead from Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon. In 1807 Cimetière de Loyasse was built on Fourvière hill. These new cemeteries still did not provide enough space for the rapidly growing city, and Guillotière Cemetery was meant to alleviate the growing need for more burial spaces. The development of Guillotière Cemetery had first been proposed on 1 March 1795 to be built at "Clos Macors", in the commune of La Guillotière, but the cemetery didn't open until 1822. When La Guillotière amalgamated with Lyon in 1852, it became the main cemetery in the city of Lyon. Despite the additional land, by 1854 the space again proved to be insufficient so the new cemetery was constructed to provide additional space for burials. The cemetery sustained significant damage when it was mistakenly bombed by the American military during the Second World War on 26 May 1944. There is still visible damage on some of the graves at the south end of the new cemetery near rue Pierre Delore.
Design
The new cemetery is organized in concentric circles and is the largest in the city at., the two cemeteries together contained around 40,000 tombs. A square of child graves that includes 80 mini crypts was constructed in 2015 with support from the Hospices Civils de Lyon and the city of Lyon. This construction was to create space after a similar square built in 2009 reached its capacity. The 2015 construction encompasses an area of and cost around €25,000. The two cemeteries are separated by Avenue Berthelot and the railroad tracks connecting Perrache and Part-Dieu railway stations.
Notable interments
Several notable people are buried at the cemetery, including:
