The churches

When Louis XIV conquered the town in 1667 Vauban established a new town plan in which St Marie-Madeleine was to be an important element. The architect François Vollant placed it facing the rue de Thionville following a design that was the far from ordinary : a circular choir ringed by si...

This church, formerly the Jesuit College's church of the Immaculate Conception, was rebuilt after a fire in 1744. Its stone façade is in very sober classical style, its height accentuated by the narrowness of the street and the steps leading to the main doors. The volutes masking the but...

A parish church since 1288, St Catherine's, has no transept. It is a fine vessel of stone, sailing under three equal naves that put it in the family of Flemish hallekerques. The powerful square tower, erected in 1504, houses the oldest bell in Lille, "Marie" It was on the top of this towe...

In 1854, the idea of building an imposing basilica on this site dedicated to the Virgin Mary was born. Lille had been known for its miraculous statue of the Virgin protected by an iron trellis (hence the name “Notre-Dame de la Treille”) since the Middle Ages. The 13th century Gothic ...

It was in this former Carmelite chapel (1701-1758) that Charles de Gaulle was baptised in 1890. The first architect was Thomas-Joseph Gombert of Lille but his work was interrupted in 1708 by the War of Spanish Succession. Taking over in 1724, his nephew, François-Joseph Gombert reduced the ...

Despite its apparent unity, the Gothic church that can be seen today is in fact the result of numerous make-overs stretching back to the Middele Ages (14th century) and up to the last city enlargement in 1868. Its five naves, all of the same height, and its tower in the façade make it an ...