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
- 50.2912, 2.7803
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108013
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, epitomises 18th-century Flemish civil architecture, with its brick and white stone facades typical of the Grand'Place and Petite Place in the city of Arras.
History
Arras, the capital of the Pas-de-Calais region, is one of France's richest cities in terms of ancient civil architecture, and this building, classified as a Historic Monument in 1920, is one of the most precious examples. Nestling in an urban fabric shaped by centuries of prosperous trade and successive reconstructions, it is part of the exceptional built heritage that makes Arras such a unique city, renowned throughout Europe for its Baroque gabled facades and continuous arcades. The building is part of the architectural tradition typical of northern France and the former Spanish Netherlands: a skilful interplay between the local brick, tending towards warm ochre, and the ashlar white stone that highlights the window surrounds, cornices and pilasters. This chromatic dialogue, so characteristic of Arras, gives the building a sober but assertive elegance that contrasts with the austere sobriety of Parisian classicism, while avoiding the exuberance of certain Flemish private mansions. To visit this building - or simply contemplate it from the street - is to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a city that, despite the destruction of two world wars, has managed to preserve the essence of its architectural identity. The balanced proportions of the façade, the regular rhythm of the openings and the quality of the sculpted details bear witness to the expertise of the craftsmen and masons of Artois, whose reputation extended far beyond the region's borders. Its protection as a Historic Monument, obtained in 1920 - in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, which devastated a large part of Arras - underlines the extent to which this building was considered irreplaceable by the heritage authorities of the time. Its conservation reflects a collective desire to preserve the traces of an urban civilisation threatened by modernity and conflict. Today, it is an integral part of the protected landscape of the historic centre of Arras, a town whose Grand'Place and Place des Héros are among the most coherent architectural ensembles in northern France.
Architecture
The building is in keeping with the civil architectural tradition of northern France, typical of the middle-class buildings of the Artennes region in the 17th and 18th centuries. The façade combines local baked brick, a warm shade of ochre to brick red, with the ashlar white used for the structural elements: window surrounds with crossettes, moulded cornices, quoins and base courses. This bimaterial is the visual signature of Arras architecture and immediately distinguishes these buildings from their Parisian or Norman counterparts. The composition of the facade follows a classic layout: a ground floor for commercial or residential purposes, topped by two or three storeys of living accommodation, punctuated by windows with straight or segmental-arched lintels arranged in regular bays. The attic, covered in pantile or slate depending on the successive alterations, is pierced by pedimented dormers that add to the vertical animation of the whole. The vaulted cellars, typical of Arras architecture, form a remarkable underground volume, often in brick, a direct descendant of local medieval construction techniques. The quality of the sculpted details - modillions, ornate keystones, wrought-iron railings - betrays the work of specialist craftsmen who mastered the decorative repertoires in use in the region at the time of construction. The overall impression is one of balance and moderation, in keeping with the 18th-century bourgeois ideal of solidity, practicality and a certain ostentatious discretion.
Related Figures
Louis XIV — rattachement de l'Artois à la France (1659), contexte politique de la constructionJoseph Le Bon — représentant en mission révolutionnaire à Arras (1793-1794), acteur des bouleversements de la périodeMaximilien de Robespierre — natif d'Arras, figure politique liée à l'histoire de la villeLes maçons et tailleurs de pierre artésiens du XVIIIe siècle — artisans anonymes de l'architecture régionaleLes bourgeois négociants arrageois — commanditaires et premiers propriétaires de ce type d'immeuble de rapportLes architectes des Monuments Historiques de l'entre-deux-guerres — acteurs de la protection et restauration post-1918
Tags
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.