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
- 50.0000, 2.0000
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108008
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1919, embodies the sober elegance of Flemish civil architecture, with its brick and white stone facades typical of Arras' heritage.
History
Arras, the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, is one of the French towns with an exceptionally dense and high-quality Baroque and Classical civil heritage. Within this remarkable urban fabric, a number of old buildings stand out for the quality of their architectural workmanship, to the point where they were classified as Historic Monuments in the early years of the 20th century. This building, listed in 1919, is an eloquent example, a silent testimony to the bourgeois and commercial vitality that animated the town between the end of the Middle Ages and the modern era. What makes this building so special is that it is part of a historic urban fabric that survived the devastation of the two world wars, which left Arras battered but determined to preserve its identity. Classified in 1919, in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, the building benefited from early protection, a sign that the heritage authorities of the time had recognised its irreplaceable character in the collective memory of Arras. The experience of visiting this district is one of total immersion in Flemish and Artesian town planning, where local limestone meets red brick in a visual balance that is unique to northern France. The rhythmic facades, regular bays and discreet but meticulous ornamentation are a reminder that the town of Arras was a major economic and cultural centre in the former Spanish Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. The surrounding urban setting adds to the monument's appeal: the famous Grand'Place and Place des Héros d'Arras, with their arcaded galleries, also listed, form a coherent whole of which this building is a complementary piece. A stroll through these streets will take you back several centuries of architectural history in just a few hundred metres. Over and above its aesthetic value, this building symbolises the resilience of a city that has managed to rebuild and preserve what it could in every era. Its classification as a Historic Monument now guarantees its longevity and makes it part of the long chain of buildings that make up Arras' exceptional wealth of heritage.
Architecture
The building is part of the civil architectural tradition of northern France and the former Spanish Netherlands, characterised by the combined use of local red brick and white Artois limestone. This combination of materials, typical of the region, gives the façades a polychrome character and visual texture that immediately distinguish the architecture of Artois from that of other French regions. The bays are generally punctuated by stone pilasters or bands that give horizontal structure to the elevations, while the mullioned or small-wooded windows bear witness to persistent Flemish influences. The composition of the facade respects the canons of classical architecture adapted to the taste of Artesian architecture: ground floor with arcades or commercial shopfronts, upper storeys with taller, more ornate windows, crowned by a moulded cornice. The sculpted details - brackets, keystones, geometric or floral friezes - lend a discreet elegance without excessive ostentation, revealing the bourgeois taste that governed the commissioning of the building. The roof, probably steeply pitched in accordance with regional custom, could have been covered in slate or flat tiles, in keeping with building practices in the Pas-de-Calais region. Inside, the volumes are organised according to a rational plan typical of buildings of this type: a central or side stairwell leads to the tiered flats, whose moulded ceilings and any wood panelling bear witness to the care taken to finish them. The complex is a representative and well-preserved example of the civil architecture of Arras, whose heritage value lies as much in its individual quality as in its contribution to the collective visual identity of a town whose historic centre is unanimously recognised as one of the most remarkable in northern France.
Related Figures
Maximilien de Robespierre — natif d'Arras, figure tutélaire de la Révolution française, dont la ville porte l'empreinte mémorielleLes échevins d'Arras — édiles médiévaux et modernes qui présidèrent à l'essor architectural de la ville et à la réglementation des façadesLes architectes reconstructeurs des années 1920 — techniciens et urbanistes chargés du relevé et de la restauration du patrimoine arrageois après 1918Les marchands drapiers artésiens — commanditaires bourgeois qui financèrent la construction des immeubles civils de qualité aux XVIIe et XVIIIe sièclesPaul Léon — directeur des Beaux-Arts au lendemain de la Première Guerre mondiale, artisan des premières vagues de classements patrimoniaux d'urgence en 1919
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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.