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
- 50.2910, 2.7785
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108105
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1919, embodies Flemish civil architecture in all its splendour: its baroque façade, stepped gables and sculpted details bear witness to an exceptional urban past.
History
Arras is a town whose squares have survived the centuries with an architectural coherence that is rare in France. In this exceptional urban context, the building listed as a Historic Monument by decree of 1 September 1919 stands out as one of the most precious examples of civil architecture in Arras. Its presence within the historic fabric of the town confirms its status as the capital of Flemish heritage in France. What sets this building apart from ordinary buildings is above all the quality of its integration into an urban ensemble of rare coherence. Despite the colossal destruction of the First World War, Arras has preserved several of its historic buildings, which were rebuilt with meticulous care. Each facade, each gable, each archway bears witness to the skills of a builder who goes back several centuries and has been passed on with remarkable fidelity. To visit this building is to plunge into the intimacy of civil life in Arras through the ages. The town's inhabitants, whether cloth merchants, bourgeois notables or elite craftsmen, fashioned these local blue stones in their own image: an image of discreet prosperity, a pronounced taste for ornament and a deep attachment to the architectural traditions of the county of Artois. The building is in constant dialogue with its neighbours, forming a strikingly coherent visual frontage. The building's setting further enhances its appeal. Arras, with its two main squares - the Grand'Place and the Place des Héros - boasts one of the best-preserved groups of Flemish Baroque and Renaissance architecture in Northern Europe. Strolling along these cobbled streets and observing the details of the listed facades is a rare cultural and sensory experience, not to be missed by lovers of civil heritage.
Architecture
The architecture of this building is fully in keeping with the tradition of civil construction in Arras and Artesia, direct descendants of the Flemish Baroque that permeated the entire region from the 16th to the 18th century. The facade, probably composed of several bays punctuated by pilasters or engaged columns, displays the typical characteristics of this movement: stepped or scrolled gables at the top, bays with paired keystones, and a skilful alternation between smooth surfaces and sculpted elements that give the whole a remarkable ornamental liveliness. Artois bluestone, the preferred material of local builders, is probably the main material used for the masonry, combined with brick elements for the infill. Initially, the ground floor would have featured one or more semi-circular arches, typical of the commercial architecture of Arras, to protect passers-by under a covered passageway - a system known as "covered passageways", for which the squares of Arras are famous. The upper storeys feature a careful decorative programme: moulded cornices, carved stone window sills and possibly caryatids or atlatls framing the main bays. The interior layout probably follows the traditional plan of Flemish bourgeois houses: an entrance giving access to a central corridor, reception rooms in a row on the first floor, and barrel-vaulted cellars in the basement - an almost systematic feature of the civil architecture of Arras, whose depth and quality of construction are often one of the most spectacular features of these buildings.
Related Figures
Les marchands drapiers médiévaux d'Arras, premiers commanditaires des grandes demeures civiles de la villeAlbert de Habsbourg, gouverneur des Pays-Bas espagnols, sous le règne duquel l'architecture baroque flamande atteignit son apogée à ArrasLouis XIV, dont la conquête d'Arras en 1654 orienta l'architecture locale vers un dialogue entre traditions flamandes et classicisme françaisMaximilien de Robespierre, natif d'Arras, dont la famille fréquentait les grandes demeures bourgeoises de la ville au XVIIIe siècleLes architectes restaurateurs de l'après-1918, chargés de reconstruire à l'identique le patrimoine civil arrageois détruit pendant la Grande Guerre
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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.