Saint-Genis-Laval is a commune in the metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France.The Lyon Observatory is located in this commune.HistorySaint-Genis-Laval draws its name from Saint Genis or Genest, a Roman actor tortured under Diocletian. At the beginning of the XIIIth century, to differentiate it of other villages of the same name, the town added a qualitative to its name, «of the valley», which in the XVth century became "Laval".The first mention of the settlement of Saint-Genis dates back to 807, a year the archbishop Leidrade donated to the hospitals of Saint-Roman and from Saint-Genis. In 984 it was mentioned for the first time as part of properties of the arbishop of Lyon, in the census of the 52 parishes of the underground Church in Lyon. Little by little, the archbishop assigned his belongings to the Canons of the Lyon Cathedral. In the 13th century, they strengthened the village and in 1447 rebuilt the surrounding wall. The current shape of the centre of the city still shows, between the line of the Middle Ages market town and the rest of the surrounding wall, an ancient tower in the garden of the remedy (prison for a long time); the North port (restored in the 18th century) and one U-turn set in houses, des Halles street (or street of Covered market).