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, 2.7807
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108023
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, embodies the Flemish elegance of the Grand-Place, with its sandstone arcades and Baroque facades that have survived the wars without losing their soul.
History
Arras is one of the few towns in the north of France to have preserved - or reconstituted with astonishing fidelity - its urban architectural fabric from the medieval and modern periods. Within this exceptional heritage, the building, classified as a Historic Monument by decree of 18 March 1920, is a prime example of the civil architecture of Arras, the fruit of a building tradition specific to the former Southern Netherlands. The town of Arras owes its unique appearance to several centuries of prosperous trade, notably in wool and tapestries - the famous 'arras' that gave their name to a type of hanging throughout Europe. This wealth was reflected in the construction of bourgeois and merchant houses whose facades, lined up under continuous porticoes, formed a remarkably coherent urban décor. The building in question is in keeping with this heritage and commercial approach. Its classification in 1920 - just a few years after the massive destruction of the First World War, more than 60% of which ravaged Arras - bears witness to the architectural and historical value that the authorities immediately recognised, at a time when reconstruction and the preservation of the remains were a national emergency. The building was thus protected as one of the first buildings in Arras to be granted official status. To visit this building is to plunge into the living stratification of a town that has known how to die and be reborn without denying its roots. In its proportions, ornamentation and materials, the attentive passer-by will discover the markers of an architectural identity shared by Arras and the great Flemish cities of the Scheldt basin. The Grand-Place and the Place des Héros - both listed as among the most beautiful squares in Europe - provide the ideal backdrop for appreciating this building in its full urban dimension. As well as the building itself, it illustrates a whole art of living in the city: that of inhabited porticoes, retail ground floors opening onto the street, and residential upper floors topped by stepped or scrolled gables that form an unforgettable silhouette against the northern sky.
Architecture
The building is in keeping with the Flemish and Artesian architectural tradition that characterises the historic centre of Arras. Built in red brick and limestone ashlar - two materials that are emblematic of the region - the façade is punctuated by pilasters or engaged columns that give vertical structure to the composition, following a principle inherited from the Flemish Baroque period. The bays are emphasised by moulded frames, and the ground floor probably opens out under a gallery with semi-circular arches, in keeping with the urban layout typical of the large squares in Arras. The facade's crown is generally the most expressive feature of this type of building in Arras: a stepped or scrolled gable, broken pediment or modillioned cornice, forming the transition between the wall and the steeply pitched roof covered in slate or flat tiles. The windows on the first floor, which are taller and more ornate than those on the upper floors, signal the nobility of the reception floor, while the pedimented dormers cut a lively and picturesque silhouette across the roof. Inside, buildings of this type often feature barrel-vaulted cellars, inherited from the Middle Ages and once used to store goods - testimony to the town's commercial past. Staircases with stone or wooden balusters and beamed ceilings complete an interior that, even when transformed by successive uses, retains the stamp of bourgeois elegance typical of the Artois region in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Related Figures
Joseph Le Bon — représentant en mission révolutionnaire à Arras (1793-1794), dont l'action bouleversa la propriété de nombreux immeublesMaximilien de Robespierre — natif d'Arras (1758-1794), figure de la Révolution dont la ville porte encore la mémoireCardinal de Granvelle — prélat artésien du XVIe siècle, figure du mécénat architectural sous domination espagnoleEugène Viollet-le-Duc — théoricien du patrimoine dont l'influence inspira les premières protections des édifices civils artésiens au XIXe siècleLouis Cordonnier — architecte actif dans la reconstruction d'Arras après 1918, qui supervisa la restauration de nombreuses façades du centre historique
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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.