Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille

The École supérieure de journalisme (ESJ Lille) (in English: Superior School of Journalism of Lille) is an institution of higher education, a French Grande École in Lille dedicated to journalism and related studies. It has been elected best French journalism school in 2013 by Le Figaro.

Lille Synagogue (French: Synagogue de Lille) is an Ashkenazi Jewish synagogue in Lille, France.The Jewish presence in Lille began shortly after Alsace returned to German rule in 1871. Built in the Romano-Byzantine style and opened in 1891, it is the oldest synagogue in the department of Nord. It is one of few synagogues to have survived intact from the Nazi occupation of France, as the Nazis used it to store weapons. In 1984, it was classified as a monument historique.It is owned by the city and operated by the local community. In January 2022, it reopened after three years of restorations, which were intended to bring its appearance back to how it looked when it opened. The initial budget for restorations was €1.5 million. In November 2018, to raise funds for the renovation and to educate the local community, it ran a mojito bar with guided tours.

Christ Church Lille is an English-speaking Anglican Church located in the city of Lille in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the Flemish area of France. Christ Church Lille is part of the Church of England, Diocese in Europe.

The siege of Lille (25 September – 8 October 1792) saw a Republican French garrison under Jean-Baptiste André Ruault de La Bonnerie hold Lille against an assault by a Habsburg army commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Though the city was fiercely bombarded, the French successfully withstood the Austrian attack in the action. Because the Austrians were unable to completely encircle the city, the French were able to continuously send in reinforcements. After news of the French victory over the Prussians at Valmy, Albert withdrew his troops and siege cannons. The next battle was at Jemappes in November. The Column of the Goddess monument was completed in 1845 to commemorate the siege.

The Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille, or Lille Natural History Museum, was founded in 1822. It houses zoological and geological collections. Its holdings have recently been enhanced by ethnographic specimens from the Musée Moillet and industrial objects from the old Musée Industriel et Commercial de Lille. The museum's address is 19 Rue de Bruxelles.

Lille ( LEEL, French: [lil] (listen); Dutch: Rijsel [ˈrɛisəl]; Picard: Lile; West Flemish: Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord department, and the main city of the European Metropolis of Lille. The city of Lille proper had a population of 236,234 in 2020 within its small municipal territory of 35 km2 (14 sq mi), but together with its French suburbs and exurbs the Lille metropolitan area (French part only), which extends over 1,666 km2 (643 sq mi), had a population of 1,515,061 that same year (Jan. 2020 census), the fourth most populated in France after Paris, Lyon, and Marseille. The city of Lille and 94 suburban French municipalities have formed since 2015 the European Metropolis of Lille, an indirectly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of wider metropolitan issues, with a population of 1,182,250 at the Jan. 2020 census.More broadly, Lille belongs to a vast conurbation formed with the Belgian cities of Mouscron, Kortrijk, Tournai and Menin, which gave birth in January 2008 to the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai, the first European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), which has more than 2.1 million inhabitants. Nicknamed in France the "Capital of Flanders", Lille and its surroundings belong to the historical region of Romance Flanders, a former territory of the county of Flanders that is not part of the linguistic area of West Flanders. A garrison town (as evidenced by its Citadel), Lille has had an eventful history from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Very often besieged during its history, it belonged successively to the Kingdom of France, the Burgundian State, the Holy Roman Empire of Germany and the Spanish Netherlands before being definitively attached to the France of Louis XIV following the War of Spanish Succession along with the entire territory making up the historic province of French Flanders. Lille was again under siege in 1792 during the Franco-Austrian War, and in 1914 and 1940. It was severely tested by the two world wars of the 20th century during which it was occupied and suffered destruction. A merchant city since its origins and a manufacturing city since the 16th century, the Industrial Revolution made it a great industrial capital, mainly around the textile and mechanical industries. Their decline, from the 1960s onwards, led to a long period of crisis and it was not until the 1990s that the conversion to the tertiary sector and the rehabilitation of the disaster-stricken districts gave the city a different face. Today, the historic center, Old Lille, is characterized by its 17th-century red brick town houses, its paved pedestrian streets and its central Grand'Place. The belfry of the Hôtel de ville de Lille (Lille City Hall) is one of the 23 belfries in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Somme regions that were classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in July 2005, in recognition of their architecture and importance to the rise of municipal power in Europe.The construction of the brand-new Euralille business district in 1988 (now the third largest in France) and the arrival of the TGV and then the Eurostar in 1994 put Lille at the heart of the major European capitals. The development of its international airport, annual events such as the Braderie de Lille in early September (attracting three million visitors), the development of a student and university center (with more than 110,000 students, the third largest in France behind Paris and Lyon), its ranking as a European Capital of Culture in 2004 and the events of Lille 2004 (European Capital of Culture) and Lille 3000 are the main symbols of this revival. The European metropolis of Lille was awarded the "World Design Capital 2020".

The Church of Saint-Étienne, Lille (French: Église Saint-Étienne de Lille) is a Roman Catholic church located on the rue de l'Hôpital Militaire in Lille, France. It has been classed as a monument historique since 1987 and is dedicated to Saint Stephen. It is one of the largest Jesuit churches in France.

The siege of Lille took place during the War of Devolution. Louis XIV's forces besieged Lille from 10 August to 26 September 1667. It was the only major engagement of the war. Lille was the first major victory for Vauban’s siege techniques. Louis XIV, arguing that the Spanish dowry of his wife Maria Theresa of Spain had not been paid, began to expand French borders to the north and east, invading the Spanish Netherlands. This began a conflict with Spain that became the War of Devolution. After taking Charleroi, Tournai and Douai, French troops laid siege to Lille, at that time part of the county of Flanders under Spanish rule. Siege techniques applied by the French military engineer Vauban were instrumental in their capture.

The Column of the Goddess is the popular name given by the citizens of Lille (France) to the Memorial of the Siege of 1792. The memorial is still in the center of the Grand′ Place (central square) of Lille, and has been surrounded by a fountain since around 1990.

Place du Général-de-Gaulle is an urban public space situated in the commune of Lille, Hauts-de-France region. It is the town's historic main square. It has a grand-place style, which is typical of many cities in the former Netherlands. Until the 21st century, the square was considered to be part of the Forum mentioned in the 1066 foundation act of the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre. It is believed to have originated in the 14th century when the town's aldermen decided to turn it into a market. The Deûle was canalized, the ground gradually raised by embankments, then paved to create a market square. In the 17th century, the construction of the Vieille Bourse divided the square into Grand-Place and Petite-Place (now Place du Théâtre). After the liberation of Lille during World War II, the square was renamed in honor of Charles de Gaulle. The square is known locally as "Grand'Place" or, more rarely, "Place de la Déesse". The Place du Général-de-Gaulle continues to serve as a grand plaza for festivities, exchanges, and commercial activities, as well as various events of all kinds. It's still the heart of Lille's braderie. The book trade, with the Furet du Nord bookshop and numerous secondhand booksellers, is also important. The square is surrounded by a number of buildings, eight of which are listed as historical monuments, including the Théâtre du Nord (formerly the Grande Garde) and the Vieille Bourse (formerly the Bourse de Commerce). At the center of the square stands the Column of the Goddess. Built in 1845, it represents the heroism of the people of Lille during the siege of 1792.

The siege of Lille (12 August – 10 December 1708) was the salient operation of the 1708 campaign season during the War of the Spanish Succession. After an obstinate defence of 120 days, the French garrison surrendered the city and citadel of Lille, commanded by Marshal Boufflers, to the forces of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. The siege was famous among contemporaries for l'affaire des poudres ("the gunpowder incident"), where the Chevalier de Luxembourg with 2,000 horsemen passed through the Allied lines and succeeded in delivering 40,000 pounds of desperately needed gunpowder to the defenders. The siege was made possible by the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Oudenarde and the landing in Ostend of large amounts of ammunition and food after the Battle of Wijnendale. Initially, the allies were divided over which cities should be targeted following the battle of Oudenaarde. Bernaldo de Quirós, a Spanish nobleman who had sided with the Allies after the battle of Ramillies, proposed the siege of Mons and Charleroi to secure Brabant and clear the way to France. Instead, under pressure from the English government, Marlborough insisted on capturing Ypres. However, Eugene and the Dutch deputies favoured an attack on Lille. Eugene argued that the capture of this city was crucial for a successful invasion of France. In addition to this, the Dutch deputies had other good reasons for their preference for Lille. After its conquest by the French in 1667, Lille had become one of the most important French cities and the wealthy city paid a large part of the French war chest. In addition, much of the booty captured by the Dunkirk Privateers from the allied merchant fleets ended up in Lille. A capture of this city would be a major blow to the French king. For most of the campaign, Eugene commanded the forces besieging Lille, while Marlborough commanded the forces covering those forces against external French interference. For a short period in late September however, after Eugene was injured on the 21st, Marlborough took command of both the besiegers and the covering force. On 22 October the Allies entered the city at the staggering cost of 12,000 casualties; Boufflers continued to resist from Lille's citadel for several weeks, exacting an additional 4,000 allied casualties. While the allies' deft manoeuvring frustrated French attempts to relieve the strategically important fortress—the last substantial French bastion in northern Flanders—Boufflers' valiant defence likewise prolonged the siege well into winter, to the point where no operations could be undertaken against France that year. The French garrison of Lille capitulated on 10 December and the remaining defenders marched out with full honours of war, and Boufflers was decorated by Louis XIV. For France, the results of the siege were mixed. The city's stubborn defence tied down Marlborough for the remainder of the 1708 campaigning season, preventing him from inflicting further damage on France in the aftermath of Oudenarde. But, with the loss of Lille, northern Flanders reverted to allied control; the Allies moved against Ghent, taking the city in late December. The fall of Lille also opened a corridor for an allied invasion of France in 1709, although this effort would be slowed down by the bloody battle of Malplaquet.

The Métropole Européenne de Lille (MEL; English: "European Metropolis of Lille") is the métropole, an intercommunal structure, composed by a network of big cities (Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Armentières etc.) whose major city is the city of Lille. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France – bordering both the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium. It was created in January 2015, replacing the previous Communauté urbaine de Lille, and covers that part of the Lille metropolitan area that lies in France. Its area is 671.9 km2. Its population was 1,179,050 in 2019, of which 234,475 in Lille proper. The annual budget of the métropole is €1,865 billion (2018).