Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Les Bains Lillois, built from 1890 by architect Albert Baert on the boulevard de la Liberté in Lille, embodied a social and hygienist ambition. The establishment included 270 cabins, showers, a steam bath, and especially three innovative pools: a "small bath" for swimming learning, a playful 15-metre "medium bath" and a 25-metre "large bath" for experienced swimmers. The latter two formed a unique basin separated by a permeable wall, a rare design for the time. The director Léon Verdonck founded in 1898 two of the first sports swimming companies in France, including the Pupils de Neptune de Lille, the country's oldest water-polo club.

The neoclassical façade, adorned with a four-column rose marble portico and a balustrade, reflected the Belle Époque style. In 1924, the stained glass artist Alfred Labille intervened to restore the stained glass windows. The swimming pool closed in 1991 for failure to meet safety standards. Demolished in 1998, only its façade — classified as a historical monument since 1989 — was preserved and restored in 2009. Today, it incorporates a modern real estate complex, protected by bay windows.

The establishment played a key role in the democratization of swimming in France. Léon Verdonck, a major figure, introduced water polo and structured local sports practice. The Lille Tritons and the Paris Libella were among the few clubs that existed in 1898. The architecture, combining public utility and aesthetics, illustrated the hygienist concerns of the Third Republic, while marking the urbanization of Lille in the late 19th century.

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