Photo : Wikimedia Commons
La Vieille Bourse de Lille
The Vieille Bourse of Lille, in the Nord, stands between the Grand'Place and the Place du Théâtre. It illustrates the city's economic activity in the 17th century. In 1651 the Lille magistrates authorised the building of an exchange for merchants; the architect Julien Destrée directed the work in 1652-1653, the city having sold plots to twenty-four traders.
The building belongs to the Flemish Renaissance, with richly decorated façades and a bell tower topped by a gilded statue of Mercury, god of commerce. It forms a quadrilateral of twenty-eight identical houses around an inner courtyard, whose four galleries bear plaques honouring scientists and industrialists.
A stock exchange operated here from 1861 to 1920, after which the building took its present name when the new Chamber of Commerce opened. Listed as a historic monument in 1921 and 1923, it was restored from 1989 to 1998. Today it is frequented by second-hand booksellers, florists and chess players.
