| Rue de la République | |
| Alternate Name: | Rue Impériale (1862–1871) |
| Former Names: | Rue de Lyon (1871–1878) |
| Postal Code: | 69001, 69002 |
| Location: | 1st and 2nd arrondissements, Lyon, France |
| Type: | Street |
| Inauguration Date: | 1862 |
The Rue de la République is a street located in the 1st and 2nd arrondissements of Lyon, France. It links the Place de la Comédie in the north to Place Le Viste in the south, just next to Place Bellecour, via the Place de la République.
It is the main shopping street of the city. This zone is served by the Lyon Metro stations Hôtel de Ville–Louis Pradel (lines and), Cordeliers (line) and Bellecour (lines and). The street belongs to the zone classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
A street with an identical name exists in many other French cities, most notably in Marseille, where it links the Vieux-Port with the La Joliette neighbourhood.
After his appointment in 1853, the prefect of Rhône and Mayor of Lyon Claude-Marius Vaïsse decided to create three new roads connecting Place Bellecour to other major squares of the Presqu'île:
Two squares have been created on this occasion, both located along the Rue de la République: Place Impériale (now Place de la République) and the Place des Cordeliers. The street, long over a kilometre, follows a southwest–northeast axis from Place Bellecour to the Place de la République, then a north–south axis to Place Louis Pradel.
In 1894, President of France Sadi Carnot was assassinated just near the Palace of Commerce, located on the Place des Cordeliers. A red stone on the Rue de la République marks the place of the assassination.
In the 1970s, the construction of Lyon Metro Line A generated the digging of trenches on the entire street.
The location of the Rue de la République, in the center of the city, and its large number of shops make the street one of the most frequented ones of Lyon by day and night. It is also known by its apocope, "Rue de la Ré".
Like the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Rue de la République attracts a large number of signs, including:
The Rue de la République is lined with Haussman-style buildings, constructed in the 19th century when the street was created.