Unbeknownst to the casual observer, the city of Lyon is riddled with secret passageways known as the traboules (from Latin transambulare meaning “to pass through”). The traboules were an answer to a serious problem. Most streets in Vieux Lyon run parallel to the river, so getting to the shores for water or business often required a considerable detour. So the inhabitants decided to create a network of passages connecting the courtyards of their homes and enabling residents to save time and often avoid the inclement weather when transporting goods that should stay dry (for example, silk and clothes). The traboules had emergency applications too. During the Second World War, they enabled members of the French resistance to meet secretly and move about town undetected, thus denying the Germans actual control of Lyon.