FREEDOM SQUARE

Located between the Espace Grand Rue, the Eurotéléport metro station and the major centre Mc Arthur Glenn, Place de la Liberté is the vibrant and bustling heart of the new Roubaix. Yet its history dates back to the th century. Originally, it bore the name of Place du Saint-Sepulchre because it was partly occupied by the chapel and convent of the Holy Sepulchre, both created by Pierre de Roubaix upon his return from the Holy Land to the th Century. The convent will subsequently be occupied by a customs barracks and a coal market. The square will then be called the Coal market place. In 1844, all of these buildings were destroyed. Then there is an empty space that will soon be filled. A tree of freedom was planted there on April 9, 1848. The square then takes its current name, Place de la Liberté. If part of the place was occupied by the convent, the other part was occupied by a gendarmerie, then by the buildings of a spinning, a brewery deposit and a tavern. All of these buildings will be destroyed at the beginning of the th century. In 1905, the Bank of France settled there. The square also welcomed the seats of the local newspapers La Voix du Nord and the Journal de Roubaix, Northern Ancestor. Today, even though the fact that cars can circulate and parked in the car, the Place de la Liberté is a good example of eclectic urban planning. Its colourful facades on one side respond to the impressive Banque de France on the other, while pedestrians cross it from one quarter to another.