Lille

About

Founded in the middle ages, Lille was part of the County of Flanders, which was one of the richest and most prosperous regions of Europe. The city flourished under Flemish rule until 1667, when Louis XIV besieged and captured the city. This transition is particularly apparent in the city’s historic quarter, where the Baroque facades of the 17th and 18th century houses make the older buildings look downright somber. When it comes to museums, Lille’s Palais des Beaux Arts, housed in a breathtaking 19th century Belle Époque summer palace, is second only to the Louvre for size. Inside, works by Monet, Raphael, Gustave Courbet, Rubens, van Gogh, Donatello, and Picasso are accompanied by high-detail 17th and 18th-century scale models of cities. Lille’s old stock exchange, consisting of 24 Flemish renaissance houses around a central arcaded courtyard, is considered the city’s most splendid building.