Siege of Lille (1940)

The Église Saint-Maurice is a church on Rue Pierre-Mauroy, in the historic centre of Lille, northern France. Its construction began at the end of the 14th century and completed at the end of the 19th century, and it was extended over more than four centuries. A hall church in the Gothic style, it was made a monument historique in 1914.

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 Lille Braderie (French: Braderie de Lille) is a braderie, or annual street market/flea market, that takes place on the weekend of the first Sunday of September in Lille, France, in the northern Hauts-de-France region. Its dates back to the 12th century, welcoming nearly three million visitors each year. The Braderie de Lille is one of the largest gatherings in France and the largest flea market in Europe. The braderie has a 100km of aisles for 10,000 exhibitors.This event is surrounded by concerts, a fun fair, a half-marathon that precedes it, increased catering in the city (various mobile stands added to the local restaurants, Moules-frites (the traditional dish), and regional beers). It is an opportunity for many (especially for the students of Lille) to party all night in the city and its many bars. Resulting in slowly growing heaps of restaurant mussels shells. The 2016 market was cancelled by the mayor Martine Aubry due to security fears because of recent terrorism in France.

The Opéra de Lille is a neo-classical opera house, built from 1907 to 1913 and officially inaugurated in 1923. Closed for renovation in 1998 it reopened in 2003 for Lille 2004. The Opéra de Lille is a member of the European Network for Opera, Music and Dance Education (RESEO), and of Opera Europa. It is served by the metro stations Gare Lille-Flandres and Rihour.

The canton of Lille-4 is an administrative division of the Nord department, northern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Lille.It consists of the following communes: Lezennes Lille (partly) Ronchin

The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille (Lille Palace of Fine Arts) is a municipal museum dedicated to fine arts, modern art, and antiquities. It is one of the largest art museums in France. It was one of the first museums built in France, established under the instructions of Napoleon I at the beginning of the 19th century as part of the popularisation of art. Jean-Antoine Chaptal's decree of 1801 selected fifteen French cities (among which Lille) to receive the works seized from churches and from the European territories occupied by the armies of Revolutionary France. The painters Louis Joseph Watteau and François Watteau, known as the "Watteau of Lille", were heavily involved in the museum's beginnings - Louis Joseph Watteau made in 1795 the first inventory of the paintings confiscated during the Revolution, whilst his son François was deputy curator of the museum from 1808 to 1823. The museum opened in 1809 and was initially housed in a church confiscated from the Récollets before being transferred to the city's town hall. In 1866, the "musée Wicar", formed from the collection of Jean-Baptiste Wicar, was merged into the Palais des Beaux-Arts. Construction of the Palais's current Baroque-revival-style building began in 1885 under the direction of Géry Legrand, mayor of Lille, and it was completed in 1892. The architects chosen to design the new building were Edouard Bérard (1843–1912) and Fernand Etienne-Charles Delmas (1852–1933) from Paris. During the early 20th century, Victor Mollet served as its official architect. The building is located on the place de la République, in the center of the city, facing the préfecture of Lille. It was renovated during the 1990s and reopened in 1997. At the start of the 1990s, the building's poor state and the moving of Vauban's relief models of fortified towns to Lille forced the town to renovate the building. Work began in 1991, under the architects Jean-Marc Ibos and Myrto Vitart, and was completed in 1997. This allowed the creation of a new 700 m2 basement room for temporary exhibitions, as well as departments for the relief models and for 19th-century sculpture. Overall the museum covers 22000 m2 and held 72430 pieces as of 2015, one of the largest provincial collections of fine art. The collection includes works by Raphael, Donatello, Van Dyck, Tissot, Jordaens, Rembrandt, Goya, El Greco, David, Corot, Courbet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Delacroix, Rubens, Rodin, Claudel and Jean-Baptiste Chardin.

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.

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.

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.

Lille-Flandres station (French: Gare de Lille-Flandres, Dutch: Rijsel Vlaanderen) is the main railway station of Lille, capital of French Flanders. It is a terminus for SNCF Intercity and regional trains. It opened in 1842 as the Gare de Lille, but was renamed in 1993 when Lille Europe station opened. There is a 500m walking distance between the two stations, which are also adjacent stops on one of the lines of the Lille Metro.

The Hôtel de ville de Lille (English: Lille Town Hall) is a municipal building in Lille, France. Built between 1924 and 1932 in Art Deco style of Flemish neo-Renaissance inspiration, it is listed as a Monument historique since May 2002. Its belfry is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2005 along with many other Belfries of Belgium and France in recognition of its architecture and importance in the history of municipal power in Europe. The latter should not be confused with the belfry of Lille's Chamber of Commerce, also emblematic of the city. The Town Hall is located on the Place Roger Salengro, next to the Porte de Paris, in the eastern part of the city centre. This site is served by the Mairie de Lille metro station on line 2 of the Lille Metro.