Exposition internationale et coloniale (1894)

1894 Lyon
Plan of the Tête d'Or park
Overview
BIE-class	Unrecognized exposition
Name	Exposition universelle, internationale et coloniale
Visitors	3.8 million
Location
Country	France
City	Lyon
Venue	Parc de la Tête d'or
Coordinates	45°46′35″N 4°51′05″E / 45.77639°N 4.85139°E / 45.77639; 4.85139
Timeline
Opening	29 April 1894 (1894-04-29)
Closure	11 November 1894 (1894-11-11)
Universal Expositions
Previous	World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
Next	Brussels International (1897) in Brussels
Simultaneous
Other	California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894

The Exposition universelle, internationale et coloniale was a world's fair including a colonial exhibition held at Parc de la Tête d'or in Lyon, France in 1894. The exposition drew unwanted attention with the assassination of French President Sadi Carnot by the Anarchist Sante Geronimo Caserio, during his visit on 24 June 1894; he died the day after. The exposition drew 3.8 million visitors.

The exposition was originally planned as a national exposition to be held in 1892, but the short interval since the Paris 1889 Universal Exposition led to a postponement of two years and a call for international participation.^[1]

Several names were given to the project: "l’Exposition internationale et coloniale de Lyon, en 1894", "Exposition nationale de Lyon en 1894" and "l’Exposition universelle de 1894" before the eventual name "Exposition internationale et coloniale".^[1] At the same time San Francisco and Antwerp organised world's fairs as well.^[1]

3.8 million people visited the exposition,^[1] and the success of the exposition led to renaming the neighbourhood next to the exposition from Tête d'Or to Tonkin de villeurbanne,^[2] thus referring to North Vietnam (Tonkin), at that time part of French Indochina, in order to satisfy the inhabitants attracted to the exotic colonial atmosphere.

The main building of the exposition was a 55-metre high metal dome with a diameter of 242 metres. Several themes got dedicated pavilions:

• Education (palais de l’enseignement)
• City of Paris
• City of Lyon and the surroundings (département du Rhône)
• Faith (palais des arts religieux)
• Economy (palais de l'économie sociale)
• Art
• Agriculture
• Labour
• Railways
• Civil engineering
• Forestry services

French colonies were represented as well in four pavilions:

• Algeria (palais de l’Algérie)
• Tunisia (palais de la Tunisie)
• French Indochina (palais de l’Indochine)
• French West Africa (palais de l’Afrique occidentale).^[1]

• Hanoi exhibition another colonial exhibition, 8 years later, in French Indochina