Immeuble
Monument
Immeuble, located in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Arras, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.2913, 2.7798
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108001
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, epitomises the elegance of Flemish architecture, with its sandstone arcades and rhythmic façade typical of the great baroque squares of Arras.
History
Arras, the capital of the Artois region, is one of the French towns whose civil architectural heritage has suffered most from the conflicts, but it is also one of those that has managed to recover with remarkable stylistic coherence. Within this exceptional urban fabric, this building, listed as a Historic Monument by decree of 17 January 1920, bears witness to the bourgeois and commercial architecture that made the city famous in the 17th and 18th centuries. The uniqueness of this building lies in the fact that it is part of the flamando-baroque architectural tradition typical of the Artois region: facades in bluestone or brick and sandstone, arcades on the ground floor forming the famous "covered passageways" allowing merchants to move around in bad weather, stepped or scrolled gables topping strictly ordered bays. This decorative vocabulary, a legacy of the historical links between the Artois region and the Spanish Netherlands, gives Arras buildings an identity unrivalled in northern France. To visit this building is to be carried away by the memory of a prosperous merchant town, whose clothiers and merchants built a fortune visible in every sculpted lintel and polished sandstone pillar. The facade is in dialogue with the grand squares of the Grand'Place and Place des Héros, listed as some of the most beautiful and coherent architectural ensembles in Northern Europe. For lovers of civil architecture, curious strollers or photographers in search of framing shots, this building offers a concentrate of the art of building in the Artes region: harmonious proportions, noble materials, sculpted details revealing the hand of journeymen masters of their art. The low-angled light at the end of the day, reflected by the sandstone paving stones, transforms the façade into a particularly striking study in volumes and shadows.
Architecture
The building is part of the Flamando-Baroque architectural tradition of Artois, characterised by a formal vocabulary that is codified but highly elegant. The façade features a vertical layout of regular bays, enlivened by pilasters or engaged columns in ashlar limestone or bluish sandstone, a material quarried in the Artois and Cambrésis regions. The ground floor is pierced by semi-circular or basket-handle arches, forming the typical canopies of the great squares of Arras, which enabled merchants and shoppers to move around sheltered from the rain. The two or three storeys are punctuated by mullioned or transomed windows, framed by moulded architraves and sometimes topped by triangular or curved pediments. The roof, steeply pitched in the northern tradition, is covered in slate or mechanical tiles and crowned with a scrolled or stepped gable that is the most immediately recognisable visual signature of Arras' civil architecture. The interior structure is based on thick load-bearing walls, with a stone or carved wooden baluster staircase serving the upper floors. Exposed joist floors, black Marquise marble fireplaces and painted wood panelling bear witness to the care taken with the interior decor. The ensemble reflects the technical and decorative mastery inherited from journeymen carpenters and stonemasons trained in the region's lodges.
Related Figures
Pierre Paquet — architecte en chef des Monuments Historiques, maître d'œuvre de la reconstruction d'Arras après 1918Maximilien de Robespierre — enfant d'Arras, dont la ville conserve de nombreux souvenirs liés à l'architecture bourgeoise de son tempsCharles de Croÿ — prince d'Arras et grand mécène artésien du XVIe siècle, influenceur du goût architectural régionalAntoine-Joseph Buissart — avocat arrageois du XVIIIe siècle, ami de Robespierre, représentatif de la bourgeoisie notabiliaire qui peupla ces immeublesVauban — ingénieur militaire de Louis XIV ayant fortifié Arras, dont les travaux redéfinirent la morphologie urbaine
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble located?
Immeuble is located in Arras, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Immeuble built?
Immeuble dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Immeuble open to visitors?
Immeuble is currently closed to visitors.