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
- 50.2904, 2.7782
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108113
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1921, embodies the Flemish genius of Baroque facades, combining pink brick and white stone in a rare architectural dialogue.
History
Arras is one of the most unique cities in the north of France, and its listed buildings bear eloquent testimony to this. The Grand-Place and Place des Héros form one of the best-preserved Flemish Baroque ensembles in Europe, and the buildings that line them - including this one, protected by classification order since 10 February 1921 - are its architectural jewels. This building is part of a remarkably coherent urban landscape, where each façade interacts with its neighbours while asserting its own stylistic identity. What makes this building truly distinctive is that it is part of the Flemish architectural tradition, which the builders of Artesia were able to adapt with a virtuosity that is unique to the region. Stepped or scrolled gables, pilasters, semi-circular arches on the ground floor allowing merchants to pass under covered galleries - these elements make each building in Arras a microcosm of the history of trade between Northern France, Flanders and Habsburg Spain. To visit this building is to plunge into an urban art of living that has few equivalents in France. The famous "caves d'Arras", the medieval underground passageways that run beneath much of the historic centre, add a fascinating subterranean dimension to the discovery: some of the buildings in the square give direct access to this labyrinthine network, once used to store goods and, later, to shelter people during bombardments. The setting is breathtaking whatever the season. In summer, the ochre and pink facades are reflected in the damp cobblestones; in winter, the Christmas lights transform the squares into the setting for a Flemish fairytale. The low-angled light of morning or evening brings out the relief of the sculptures and modenatures with a photographic precision that architecture lovers will particularly appreciate.
Architecture
The building is in the great tradition of Flemish civil architecture that characterises the historic centre of Arras. Like its neighbours, its facade features a ground floor with semi-circular arches - once a covered passageway for merchants - and upper storeys punctuated by pilasters and stone-panelled windows. The stepped or scrolled gable crowns the façade, an immediately recognisable visual signature of Arras architecture. The materials used are typical of the region: the local pink brick, fired in the many tile factories in Arras, blends with the white limestone quarried in the Pas-de-Calais, creating the elegant two-tone effect that gives Arras squares their distinctive tone. The sculpted decorations - brackets, capitals, cartouches, masks and interlacing - bear witness to a mastery of craftsmanship inherited from the Flemish journeymen and perpetuated by the stonemasons of Arras. Inside, the traditional layout of buildings in Arras consisted of a ground floor for shops or warehouses, upper floors for living quarters, often with exposed beamed ceilings, and barrel-vaulted cellars that sometimes gave access to the town's underground network. The steeply pitched roofs, covered in Flemish tiles or slate, are pierced by pedimented dormers that light up the attic and contribute to the silhouette that is so characteristic of the Arras skyline.
Related Figures
Pierre Paquet — architecte en chef des Monuments Historiques, supervisa la reconstruction d'Arras après 1918Maximilien de Robespierre — né à Arras en 1758, il vécut dans ce type d'immeubles bourgeois arrageoisLes échevins d'Arras — magistrats médiévaux qui réglementèrent la construction des façades autour des places marchandesEugène Viollet-le-Duc — dont les doctrines de restauration inspirèrent la reconstruction du centre arrageoisPhilippe II d'Espagne — sous la souveraineté duquel l'architecture baroque flamande s'épanouit à Arras au XVIe siècleLouis XIV — après la prise d'Arras en 1640, le Roi-Soleil confirma le statut de la ville et favorisa la continuité 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.