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
- 50.2929, 2.7804
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108043
In the heart of Arras, this remarkable building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, epitomises Flemish elegance and the building genius of northern France, with its facades featuring architecture typical of the southern Netherlands.
History
Arras is a town whose name resonates like an architectural manifesto: nowhere else in France is there such a concentration of Baroque Flemish facades arranged around large cobbled squares. It is in this exceptional urban context that this building, listed as a Historic Monument by decree of 20 April 1920, stands as precious testimony to a building tradition that has survived the centuries, wars and rebuilding. The building belongs to that category of buildings in Arras that form the very backbone of the town's civil heritage. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Arras was one of the most prosperous cities in Northern Europe, enriched by the wool and tapestry trade - the famous "arras" that gave their name to tapestries throughout Europe. This commercial wealth was reflected in the town's architecture, with its fine trade houses featuring elaborate facades punctuated by pilasters, scrolls and elaborate dormer windows, the tradition of which this building perpetuates. To visit this building is to plunge into a stratum of Arras' history that is often overlooked by the general public: not the grandeur of UNESCO-listed squares, but the intimacy of civil buildings that reveal, stone by stone, brick by brick, the daily life of an active and cultured merchant bourgeoisie. The façade reveals an architectural composition in which the verticality of the bays meets the horizontality of the cornices, characteristic of the regional style. The surrounding setting reinforces the heritage interest of the site: after the massive destruction of the First World War, Arras was able to rebuild a large proportion of its old buildings identically, making each listed building a survivor or worthy heir to centuries-old architecture. This building is thus part of a coherent and rare urban landscape, where history is written as much in the facades as in the vaulted cellars that run beneath the city.
Architecture
The building is part of the architectural tradition of the civil buildings of Arras, which combines Flemish, Spanish and French influences in a remarkably coherent regional style. The façade, the most representative element, follows a vertical composition punctuated by regular bays, where bays and pilasters are organised in a carefully controlled hierarchy. The materials used are typical of the region - local red brick and white limestone from the Pas-de-Calais - creating a two-tone play of colours that is characteristic of architecture in the Nord region. The decorative elements reflect the ornamental vocabulary typical of the Flemish-Baroque style, with moulded cornices, elaborate window surrounds and scrolled or stepped gables giving the building its distinctive silhouette. The ground floor, in the tradition of Arras' trading houses, could once open onto arcades allowing merchants to move around under cover, an urban practice inherited from the town's medieval prosperity. The steeply pitched roofs, covered in slate or flat tiles in keeping with the regional tradition, accentuate the verticality of the whole and provide an opportunity for elaborate dormer windows to light up the attic space. The interior structure, probably organised around an enfilade layout or a monumental staircase, bears witness to the residential and commercial uses of a wealthy bourgeoisie keen to reconcile social representation with domestic functionality.
Related Figures
Joseph Lebon — représentant en mission à Arras durant la Terreur révolutionnaire, dont l'action bouleversa la propriété foncière de nombreux immeubles arrageoisMaximilien de Robespierre — natif d'Arras, avocat et figure politique dont la famille fréquentait le milieu bourgeois local auquel appartient ce type d'immeubleEugène Viollet-le-Duc — théoricien du patrimoine dont l'œuvre inspira les premières politiques de classement des Monuments historiques en FranceCharles Quint — souverain des Pays-Bas espagnols dont le règne (1516-1556) correspond à l'apogée architecturale flamande à ArrasLouis XIV — sous son règne, le traité des Pyrénées (1659) rattacha définitivement Arras à la France, influençant l'évolution architecturale de la ville
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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.