R a y s o f t h e p a s t
This week I had the chance to discover a place when I had never been before. I am living in Lyon for almost three years and I never took the time to understand how the city had changed. I decided to focus my interest on the passing of time and the immortal aspect it gives to what can survive. Understanding the past is for me the best way to anticipate the future.
Walking in the Antic Theatre and the Odean was an amazing feeling. What used to be the center of Lugdunum, a place full of joy and where people were gathering, is now desert and particularly peaceful. These pieces of arts are true ruins of the past.
The beautiful view offered by the location is a look towards the past but also the future. There is a real contrast between antic and actual life. Both the Odean and the Amphitheatre are dead monuments; stones are falling apart, colors have faded and the wonderful acoustic is no more used, except once a year for a festival – which is I think, a good tribute of the great years. The atmosphere is disturbing, as in a cemetery; the vestiges from the past are giving lessons through their beauty. The visible stones and the disposition of the marble allow visitors to think of the people who participated in the life of this place. Architects, actors, musicians or citizens were here before. If they did not survive, what could represent them did. Even if the ruins are surrounding us, it is barely impossible not to imagine how it was like at its apogee, and maybe to regret this period.
J.