Lens was under Roman rule until the5th century. From 863 to 1191, Lens was under the rule of the Counts of Flanders. Attached to the County of Artois, in the 13th century King Louis VIII granted the town a communal charter in favor of the bourgeoisie. The town was the scene of many conflicts, including the Thirty Years' War. But Lens didn't really enter history until the great coal epic of the mid-19th century. In 1852, it was just a small farming town of 3,000 inhabitants. With the discovery of coal, its population multiplied by 12 in barely 100 years, reaching 36,000.

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Pictures and images Lens

Lens et le bassin minier du Pas-de-Calais JERÔME BERQUEZ - AUTHOR'S IMAGE
Le Louvre-Lens, implanté au coeur du bassin minier du Pas-de-Calais. Louvre-Lens / Amalgame - Guillaume Petranto

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