Monuments to visit Lille

Built by Pierre Raoul in 1620, under the golden age of the Spanish occupation, the Ghent Gate, which was renamed to the Revolution, is a building often ignored but tells a lot about the history of the great capital of the North. While peace and prosperity prevail in the city, it is enlarged for the fifth time by strengthening its defences. The city is surrounded by doors and ramparts. This explains the severe aspect of the exterior facade of the door that was made to impress the enemy. Its interior facade, turned to the city, is much more worked with a high roof roof and windows framed with stone cords. At the beginning, the door consisted only of one central passage, which was added two side arcades in 1875 to allow the passage of the tramway that legend until 1963. Today the Ghent Gate is partly occupied by the restaurant La Terrasse des Remparts, but it still serves as a starting point for discovering the city walls and the vast Winston Churchill Plain. The attached ramparts are the subject of a restoration programme implemented by the city with a rehabilitation structure and a project for the development of the garden in the bottom is under way. The history of the Ghent Door is not finished.

Palais Rameau rightly impresses the walker passing by boulevard de la Liberte. It is during a donation to the city of Lille that Charles Rameau request who a monument either built its name. Promise kept by the city, the palace was inaugurated in 1879. Its néo-Moorish façade is considerable including its powerful gate maintained by two square towers. Place of passion and exposure to 19TH < sup > th < /sup > century, prison during the Second World War and even exams room until 1960, this place was reinvented in the course of time. Surrounded by a beautiful little garden, the majestic glass roof ends up convincing visitors the magnificence of the place. This monument is listed Historical monument since 2002. Unfortunately, the art exhibitions and other events are too rare and do not allow this place to be worthy of its prestige. Small anecdote, falls it from the Lille agriculturalist Charles Rameau is equipped with a strawberry plant, dahlia, a map of potatoes, a rose tree and a vineyard to its request. Bref, enchanted palace and filled with stories! An advice: enjoy the next exhibition to discover it interior!