Where can you best comprehend Lyon and get the feel for this city of 'confluence', perched on two hills - Fourvière and Croix-Rousse - and crossed by two rivers, the Saône and the Rhône? There's only one way - by enjoying an unusual tour of the passages and rooftop of the Fourvière basilica. The tour is enthralling and from the summit you get a superb view over the city and its surroundings. Architect Pierre Bossan devoted a lifetime to designing this symbol of Lyon, a Romano-Byzantine mystical fortress devoted to the Virgin Mary who protected the city from the Prussians in 1870. Stone, marble and mosaics vie with one another in extolling the Mother of God. Marian symbolism is thus present everywhere and the decoration is swarming with as many allegories as medieval art. When you finally reach the top, you can gaze past the glittering gold Fourvière Virgin to the city panorama below.

Half way between the Hôtel de ville and the Eglise des Cordeliers, the Jesuit Chapelle de la Trinité, which is part of the walls of the Lycée Ampère, is a seventeenth-century baroque gem. Its façade recalls that of Ste-Marie- des- Monts by Giacomo della Porta in Rome. Inside, the abundance of light, the soft polychromy of the decors, the sober general aspect - and an exemplary restoration - delight the senses. The Lyon architect Étienne Martellange (1568-1641) interpreted with great panache and simplicity all the constraints of Jesuit architecture specifications. The subsequent decoration is mainly due to Jean Delamonce and to his son Ferdinand. Admire also the Carrara marble altar and the four Jesuit saints sculpted by Magnan. It is a venue that comes alive with the music programme by Éric Desnoues, musical director of the Festival de musique du Vieux Lyon.

In the heart of the antique dealers' district you'll find a place symbolic of Lyon's history - the Musée des Tissus (Fabric Museum), founded in 1864 in the fine Hôtel de Villeroy (1730). This conservatory of fine fabrics is largely devoted to the major creative output of eighteenth-century Lyon, but a few extraordinary items grab one's attention from other eras - such as the pleated linen tunic that has survived since it was made around 2000 BC, and the fish fabric from Middle Egypt, with its striking illusory reflections. And gazing at the satin Delphos, the short Grecian style tunic dress made by Mariano Fortuny in the 1920s and 1930s, you might get the urge to re-read Proust, one of Fortunys great admirers.

Complete this visit with a stroll through designers' Lyon. Enter the boutiques on Rue Romarin, for instance; visit the workshops, feel the fabricsmaterials that appeal to all the senses, as Véronique de Lassagne will willingly tell you in the boutique of the Soyeux Lyonnais. And she'll proudly show you the absolute must: a most beautiful velours au sabre (velvet made by cutting the nap with a razor).
Another key location for Lyon designers is the Passage Thiaffait on Rue Leynaud (the entrance lies between two columns). Situated at the foot of the Croix-Rousse hill, this 'designer' village' is the address for fashion designers from all countries, 'promoting their economic development'. There are also regular fashion parades in Lyon cafés. ook out for posters and prospectuses around the town.

Tony Garnier, a key figure in modern architecture and town planning (and a major influence on Le Corbusier) was born in Lyon, where he has a long list of buildings to his credit. A good way of familiarising yourself with his work is to visit the Musée Urbain Tony-Garnier, in the États-Unis district. This area is composed of social housing blocks described by René Jullian, author of Garnier, constructeur et utopiste as 'the first residential estate in France built according to a carefully thought out programme'. A series of murals painted on the blank façades sum up Tony Garnier's philosophy. Another series of murals, executed under the aegis of UNESCO, presents visions of 'the ideal city' signed by Indian, African, American, Russian, Mexican, and Egyptian artists. A pioneer humanist in the use of concrete, Tony Garnier is also the architect of the Grande Halle, the Hôpital Grange-Blanche and the Stade Gerland.