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
- 50.2913, 2.7795
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108157
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, epitomises the elegance of Arras' urban heritage, with its characteristic facades where ashlar and Flemish Baroque architecture have interacted over the centuries.
History
Arras, the capital of the Artois region, is a town with a heritage of civil architecture that is rare in France. Its famous Grand'Place and Place des Héros, lined with stepped gabled houses in the Flemish Baroque style, make this Pas-de-Calais town unique in the French monumental landscape. This listed building is part of this exceptional urban context, a silent witness to several centuries of bourgeois and commercial life. What really sets this building apart is that it is part of the Franco-Flemish architectural tradition that is the hallmark of Arras: facades punctuated by pilasters, arched bays, elaborate cornices and steeply pitched roofs pierced by elaborate dormers. Where other French towns have opted for the grey stone of the Île-de-France region or the tuffeau stone of the Loire, Arras has developed its own architectural language, blending Nordic influences and French classicism with an elegance that has long earned it national recognition. To visit this building is to immerse yourself in the very texture of the old town. The façade reads like an architectural treatise in miniature: each stone course, each moulding, each window panel tells the story of an era, of a craftsmanship that is rare today. Informed passers-by will spot the details that distinguish the great houses of commerce and the bourgeoisie from simple tenement buildings - the quality of the carving, the presence of cartouches or sculpted modillions, the balance of proportions. The surrounding environment adds to the experience: the cobbled streets of Arras, the arcades of the nearby Baroque squares, the murmur of history that permeates every street corner all make for an ideal setting in which to appreciate this building in its urban dimension. For lovers of the civil architecture and heritage of northern France, Arras is an unmissable pilgrimage, and this monument is one of its precious fragments.
Architecture
The building is part of the great tradition of Artesian civil architecture, characterised by the use of carefully cut local limestone and a facade layout inherited from Flemish Baroque tempered by French Classicism. The facades of this type of building generally feature a ground floor with arcades or wide commercial bays, topped by two or three storeys of living space set off by pilasters, intermediate cornices and mullioned or transomed windows framed by moulded architraves. The roof, a typical feature of Arras buildings, is steeply pitched and covered in slate or flat tiles, with triangular or curvilinear pediment dormers providing light to the attic space. The stepped or scrolled gable, a direct heritage of Flemish architecture, is often the spectacular crowning feature of the street façade. The quality of the stonework - regular bonding, marked partitions, sculpted modillions and brackets - testifies to the high standards of Artesian craftsmen and the prosperity of their patrons. The interior layout, typical of seventeenth- or eighteenth-century bourgeois buildings, generally combines commercial or storage areas on the ground floor with representative flats on the upper floors, served by a stone staircase with elaborate balusters. The interior decor - panelling, marble or stone fireplaces, coffered or painted ceilings - contributes to the overall heritage value of the building and amply justifies its protection as a Historic Monument.
Related Figures
Maximillen de Robespierre — né à Arras en 1758, figure emblématique de la bourgeoisie artésienne avant de devenir l'une des figures centrales de la Révolution françaiseCharles de Croÿ — grand argentier des Pays-Bas espagnols, dont les initiatives architecturales influencèrent le bâti bourgeois d'Arras au XVIIe sièclePierre-Joseph Fossier — architecte arrageois du XVIIIe siècle ayant contribué à la codification du style civil localEugène Leconte — architecte en chef des Monuments Historiques ayant supervisé la reconstruction d'Arras après 1918 dans un souci de fidélité historiqueCardinal de Richelieu — dont le rattachement définitif de l'Artois à la France en 1659 orienta le développement architectural de la ville vers un classicisme français tout en conservant ses traits flamands
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.