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
- 50.2920, 2.7812
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108050
In the heart of Arras, this remarkable building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1919, embodies the architectural elegance of the city of Arras and is a precious example of the urban heritage of the Hauts-de-France region.
History
Arras, the capital of the Pas-de-Calais region, is one of France's most remarkable cities for its rich urban architectural heritage. Its two emblematic squares - the Grand'Place and the Place des Héros - form one of the most impressive groups of Flemish Baroque facades in Europe. This listed building is part of this exceptional context, and its monumental protection, granted as early as 1919, bears witness to the importance that the French government recognised very early on. What makes this building so special is precisely its dual origins: in a town that has carefully preserved and rebuilt an urban fabric severely tested by conflict, and in a Flemish-Spanish architectural tradition that makes Arras a city like no other in northern France. Facades with stepped gables, ground-floor arcades, sculpted pilasters and elaborate dormers are the inimitable visual signature of Arras architecture, and this building is one of its protected representatives. To visit this building is to plunge into several centuries of urban history: that of a town that prospered thanks to the wool and tapestry trade, of a city that came under Spanish and then French domination, and of a centre that was rebuilt with remarkable fidelity after the destruction of the First World War. Each stone, each arcade tells a story of this eventful history. The building blends into the urban fabric of Arras, yet stands out for the characteristics that justified its protection. It offers the attentive visitor the chance to read, in the architecture, the traces of the successive influences that have shaped the face of the town: late Gothic, Flemish Baroque, French Classicism. A palimpsest of stone in the heart of a city of memory.
Architecture
The building is part of the great tradition of civil architecture in Arras, characterised by a unique synthesis of late Nordic Gothic and Flemish Baroque. The façades of this type of building generally feature a ground floor punctuated by semi-circular or basket-handle arches, beneath which are covered galleries for pedestrian and merchant traffic. This characteristic, inherited from the Spanish and Flemish influences of the 15th and 17th centuries, gives the streets of Arras an atmosphere that is both southern and northern, and absolutely unique in France. The upper levels are distinguished by their meticulous ornamentation: engaged pilasters framing the window bays, sculpted entablatures, triangular or curved pediments topping the bays, and above all the stepped or scrolled gables characteristic of the Flemish Baroque style. The dominant materials are the white limestone of the region and, for certain structural elements, brick, the use of which is traditional throughout northern France. Steeply pitched roofs clad in blue slate complete the typical silhouette of these buildings. Inside, the layout reflects the commercial and residential uses that have marked the town's history: a vast ground floor once dedicated to trading, residential floors with ceilings often adorned with exposed beams or stuccoed decorations, and vaulted cellars - Arras' famous 'boves', dug into the chalk - that make up an underground network unique in Europe, used as warehouses, refuges and even field hospitals during the wars.
Related Figures
Joseph Le Bon — représentant en mission révolutionnaire à Arras (1793-1794), dont l'action politique a profondément marqué la vie et le patrimoine de la villeMaximilien de Robespierre — natif d'Arras, avocat et homme politique, figure incontournable de l'histoire de la citéCharles Quint — souverain des Pays-Bas espagnols dont la domination a profondément influencé l'architecture civile d'Arras aux XVIe-XVIIe sièclesLouis XIV — dont la conquête définitive d'Arras (1667-1668) a orienté la ville vers le classicisme français tout en préservant ses traditions flamandesEugène Viollet-le-Duc — dont les théories sur la restauration du patrimoine ont inspiré les architectes chargés de reconstruire Arras après 1918
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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.