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
- 50.2952, 2.7716
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108074
In the heart of Arras, this 17th-century building epitomises the golden age of civil architecture in Arras, with its brick and limestone facades typical of the Louis XIII style. It has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1942.
History
In the dense and prestigious urban fabric of Arras, the capital of the Pas-de-Calais, certain 17th-century buildings stand out as silent but eloquent witnesses to an era of commercial prosperity and architectural renewal. This building, listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 20 July 1942, belongs to that rare category of civil buildings that have survived wars, revolutions and rebuilding without losing their soul. In the 17th century, Arras was a town in the throes of change. Permanently annexed to the Kingdom of France in 1659 by the Treaty of the Pyrenees, it underwent a remarkable architectural boom, with its bourgeoisie and merchants vying with each other in elegance to adorn the city with residences befitting their fortunes. It was against this backdrop of urban renaissance that this building came into being, combining Flemish building traditions inherited from previous centuries with the classical canons imposed by rising French taste. The building is distinguished by its characteristic facade, where red brick and limestone ashlar interact in a harmony typical of the region's building style. The well-balanced proportions of the bays, the meticulous modelling and the quality of the stonework bear witness to the skills of the local craftsmen, trained at a school where high standards were never sacrificed for speed. To visit this building - or simply to contemplate its façade from the street - is to plunge into the intimacy of a town that has always known how to rebuild with character. In an urban context where the massive destruction of the First World War wiped out so much of the past, the survival of this 17th-century building is almost miraculous, giving it inestimable heritage value. Arras itself is well worth a visit: its famous Grand-Place and Place des Héros squares, lined with Flemish gabled houses, form a Baroque setting that is unique in France, and this building is a natural extension of this more intimate, everyday architecture, that of the city lived in rather than the city staged.
Architecture
The building faithfully illustrates the characteristics of 17th-century civil architecture in Arras, the heir to a dual tradition: rising French classicism, disseminated from Paris by major royal commissions, and the refinement of Flemish construction deeply rooted in the local building culture. The façade combines brick and limestone in a two-tone rhythm very typical of the regional Louis XIII style, where the sobriety of the lines does not exclude constant attention to detail: moulded window surrounds, ashlar quoins, sculpted sills on the main bays. The vertical composition of the facade follows the classic rules: a ground floor treated as a solid base, probably originally used for a commercial or craft activity, topped by one or two storeys intended for residential use, the whole crowned by a French-style slate roof. The evenly-spaced window bays give the whole a measured order, a sign of architectural mastery that goes beyond mere utility. The materials used are those favoured by Artesian builders of the time: local baked brick for the walls and Marquise or Écaussines stone for the structural and decorative elements. This combination of materials, which was both economical and aesthetically pleasing, defined a warm palette of colours - the orange-red of the brick against the creamy white of the limestone - that characterised the authentic face of Arras before the destruction of the 20th century.
Related Figures
Louis XIV — sous le règne duquel Arras fut définitivement rattachée à la France (1659), transformant le contexte politique et culturel de construction de l'édificeJoseph Le Bon — représentant en mission révolutionnaire à Arras (1793-1794), dont l'action causa de profondes perturbations dans la propriété des immeubles bourgeoisMaximilien de Robespierre — natif d'Arras (1758-1794), avocat et homme politique dont la famille côtoya les mêmes milieux bourgeois que les premiers propriétaires de ce type d'immeubleVauban — ingénieur militaire de Louis XIV qui transforma les fortifications d'Arras à la fin du XVIIe siècle, influençant l'organisation urbaine et la construction civileLes bâtisseurs artisans anonymes — maçons, tailleurs de pierre et briquetiers artésiens qui transmirent de génération en génération les techniques constructives flamandes et françaises incarnées dans cet édifice
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.