The nine
arrondissements of Lyon are the administrative divisions of the
City of Lyon. Unlike the spiral pattern of the
arrondissements of Paris, or the meandering pattern of
those in Marseille, the layout in Lyon is more
idiosyncratic. This is for historical reasons: following the annexation of the
communes of ,
La Croix-Rousse and
Vaise in 1852, the newly enlarged city was divided into 5 arrondissements, which originally spiralled out anticlockwise from the
Hôtel de Ville (
Town Hall); however, as the city's population expanded, it became necessary to split certain arrondissements, giving rise to today's seemingly random pattern.