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Cultural highlights in and around Lille

Lille’s museums offer a wide range of cultural experiences. Whether you’re a lover of art, history or science, there’s sure to be one to satisfy your curiosity!

The Palais des Fine arts

Behind the doors of this superb 19th-century building, adorned with gilding and sculptures, lies France’s richest collection of works of art after that of the Louvre: Rodin, Van Dyck, Rubens, Delacroix, Goya, Courbet and many other world-renowned artists are on display.

Part of the history of the North, its galleries offer a journey through styles and eras, and regularly host temporary exhibitions open to all.

The Museum of Natural History

When it was inaugurated in 1894, this former science faculty was entrusted with the city of Lille’s geology and zoology collections, to meet the needs of the burgeoning research community at the time, and to help visitors marvel at the collections.

Now entirely converted into a museum, the building houses some remarkably well-preserved natural treasures, whose presentation plunges those who observe them thousands, even millions of years back in time… A great idea for a fun family outing!

Le Centre of Sacred Art

Enter the basement of Notre-Dame de la Treille Cathedral, in the neo-Gothic crypt, to discover works from the Delaine Collection: a multitude of paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings and stained glass windows by 20th and 21st century artists, on the theme of the Passion of Christ. A collection unique in France and the rest of the world, it blends contemporary art with a theme rightly abandoned by the period and its artists.

La Piscine, art museum and industry

This former swimming pool, built in art deco style in the heart of Roubaix, is a true cultural gem. Inside, you’ll find a rare wealth of collections! The Musée d’art et d’industrie invites you on an original discovery of its collections of applied arts (drawing, textiles, ceramics) and fine arts (painting, sculpture from the 19th and 20th centuries).

During your visit, you won’t want to leave without taking a picture of the two immense glass windows that illuminate the basin below.

Discover all our sites in and around Lille

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