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
- 50.2915, 2.7808
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108032
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, embodies the Flemish and Baroque architectural elegance of the Grand-Place, with its sculpted gabled facades and Hainaut blue stone arcades.
History
Arras, the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department, is one of France's most remarkable cities for its Flemish-inspired Baroque civil architecture. The buildings lining the Grand-Place and Place des Héros - two of the most beautiful arcaded squares in Northern Europe - form an urban ensemble of rare coherence, the result of a methodical reconstruction undertaken after the destruction of the 17th century. Among these buildings, the one listed as a Historic Monument on 5 January 1920 testifies to the determination of the Artesian elite to be part of an architectural tradition that was both local and open to influences from the Spanish Netherlands. What makes this building truly unique is that it is part of one of the most harmonious urban ensembles in the north of France. The façade, typically composed of several bays punctuated by pilasters, mullioned or transomed windows and crowned by a stepped or scrolled gable, is in dialogue with its neighbours while asserting its own ornamental identity. The white limestone, quarried in the region, contrasts with the pinkish bricks used as infill, giving the whole a palette so characteristic of Northern Baroque. For visitors, the building is a natural part of a stroll through the squares of Arras, where the arcades - the underground "boves" underneath and the covered walkways above - create a sheltered and majestic urban stroll. Viewing the façade from the centre of the square in the early hours of the morning, when the low-angled light reveals the relief of the sculptures, is a memorable aesthetic experience. Its listing in 1920, just five years after the end of the fighting in the First World War that devastated much of Arras, illustrates the urgent need felt by the public authorities to protect the architectural remains that had survived or been restored. This building is thus part of a collective history of resilience and heritage memory.
Architecture
The building is part of the Flemish Baroque architectural tradition that characterises Arras' civil ensembles, a style developed between the late 17th and early 18th centuries under the influence of the Spanish Netherlands. The main facade, facing the square, features a vertical composition of several bays separated by classical pilasters - Ionic or Corinthian depending on the level - topped by a sculpted gable or broken pediment. The generously proportioned bays on the upper floors are framed by moulded architraves and sometimes highlighted by mascarons or ornamented keys. The ground floor opens onto the square's characteristic covered arcades, with round arches resting on limestone pillars. The materials used reflect the regional palette: white limestone from Artesian quarries for the structural and decorative elements, red or pinkish brick for the wall infill, and natural slate for the steeply pitched roofs. This chromatic combination, typical of Northern Baroque, gives the building a presence that is both sober and luminous. The vaulted cellars - the "boves" dug into the Arras chalk subsoil - are a remarkable technical feature, forming a veritable underground network that once linked the various buildings in the square. The interior, although less well documented, would have featured a stone staircase with turned balusters, ceilings with mouldings and cornices, and marble or carved limestone fireplaces typical of 18th-century bourgeois housing in Arras.
Related Figures
Louis XIV — dont la politique urbanistique d'assimilation de l'Artois influença directement la reconstruction des places d'Arras au XVIIe siècleMaximilien de Robespierre — figure révolutionnaire née à Arras en 1758, ayant évolué dans le même tissu urbain que ces immeublesVauban — ingénieur militaire ayant travaillé sur les fortifications d'Arras sous Louis XIV, contribuant à transformer la villeLes architectes de l'Académie royale d'architecture — dont les règles d'urbanisme influencèrent la reconstruction baroque des places arrageoissesLes échevins de la ville d'Arras — commanditaires collectifs des reconstructions du XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle imposant l'harmonie architecturale
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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.