Opus IX: Abode of Chaos / Demeure du Chaos 1999-2013

dIsCovered
In the heart
oF the abode
oF Chaos:
the temPle
oF saIntromaIn-de-
Couzon
(1630-1685)
In 1630, the Archbishop of Lyons,
who acquired Oullins, forbade
Protestant worship there. It was
therefore necessary to find another
place to build a temple. The location
of Saint­Romain­de­Couzon
was designated for this purpose
regardless of complaints concerning
the excessive distance from
Lyons and difficulties of access.
This place was chosen because it
was the parish closest to Lyons
which was not governed by an ecclesiastical
lord. The temple was
built near the Impasse de la Croix
and the portal was still visible in
the last century. The first service
was celebrated on 12 August 1630.
Today Saint­Romain­de­Couzon
is called Saint­Romain­au­Montd'Or.
According to a report compiled by
the pastors in 1651, the Protestant
community counted 160 house­
248 249
Page 248
Socrate peint sur le mur
du Temple Protestant
Painted Socrates on the wall
of the Protestant Temple
Page 249
Christ gisant recouvert d'algues
Lying Christ, covered
with seaweeds
holds or 870 people, mostly
wealthy merchants and artisans,
i.e. important public figures, although
there were also members
of the lower classes. As well as persons
from Lyons, it also received
Swiss and German worshippers.
Among the intellectual personalities
of the time there was a certain
physician called Jacob Spon,
from a family originally from Ulm
but that established itself in Lyons
in the middle of the 16th Century.
Spon was the author of a controversial
theological correspondence
with the famous Père La Chaise.
He emigrated because of the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
and died in Vevey, Switzerland.
On 3 February 1659, the
Archbishop Camille de Neuville
founded the Society for the
sens sacré