LILLE - FORTIFIED TOWN

Vauban called it the “Queen of Citadels” and it is certainly worth the detour. This veritable town was built in three years and is able to house 3,600 men; it comprises five royal bastions linked by five curtains (wall linking two bastions)
 and five large demi-lunes (projected element at the front of a bastion. Originally semi-circular in shapeit became triangular over time).

They are almost intact and can be admired during a 2-kilometre walk in the immense green areas around the Citadel. One cannot leave Lille without having also visited the remains of the Palais Rihour, erected in the 15th century, at a time when the financial capital of Bourguignon Flanders rivalled the opulence of Antwerp and Amsterdam.

Do not forget Paris Gate, a superb triumphal arch to the glory of Louis XIV, and the Vieille Bourse (Old Stock Exchange), built with the Spanish king’s permission. Finally, you can discover two gates of the Spanish enclosure, Gand Gate and Roubaix Gate, the latter having been integrated into a park.