The beautifully decorated, Byzantine style Orthodox Church of Saint Peter and Paul was erected between the years 1893 and 1898 according to the design of architect Gustav Widemann from Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad). It was built in the fashion of the Byzantine-old Russian church in Ostankino near Moscow. The funds necessary for the construction of the church were raised among wealthy Serbian and Russian clientele and nobility. The new church replaced the no longer satisfactory Orthodox chapel in Mariánskolázeňská Street.
The richly decorated Byzantine style church has a floor plan in the shape of a Greek cross and five gold-plated cupolas. The church walls are complemented with plentiful ornamental and figural murals. The church interior is dominated by a wooden majolica iconostasis with oil icons of saints by painter Tyurin. The iconostasis was originally made in Kuznetsovo for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. A bronze relief of Peter I by sculptor M. Hiller is installed by the staircase opposite Sadová Street. The church is accessible to the public during regular opening hours.
References:The Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls was part of the federal sanctuary of the three Gauls dedicated to the cult of Rome and Augustus celebrated by the 60 Gallic tribes when they gathered at Lugdunum (Lyon). The amphitheatre was built at the foot of the La Croix-Rousse hill at what was then the confluence of the Rhône and Saône.
Excavations have revealed a basement of three elliptical walls linked by cross-walls and a channel surrounding the oval central arena. The arena was slightly sloped, with the building"s south part supported by a now-vanished vault. The arena"s dimensions are 67,6m by 42m. This phase of the amphitheatre housed games which accompanied the imperial cult, with its low capacity (1,800 seats) being enough for delegations from the 60 Gallic tribes.
The amphitheatre was expanded at the start of the 2nd century. Two galleries were added around the old amphitheatre, raising its width from 25 metres to 105 metres and its capacity to about 20,000 seats. In so doing it made it a building open to the whole population of Lugdunum and its environs.