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Origin and history

Souham Barracks, also known as Saint-Maurice Barracks, is a former military barracks built in the early seventeenth century in Lille, following an urban extension. Originally, its buildings were integrated behind the bastion Saint-Maurice, part of the fortified enclosure built between 1617 and 1622. This strategic site housed troops and played a key role in defending the city, then expanding under the influence of the Spanish Netherlands.

In 1792, the barracks suffered a major fire during the siege of Lille by the Austrians, an episode of revolutionary wars. The damage was such that the building had to be restored in the following years, reflecting its continuing importance for the local garrison. The remains of this period, although partially destroyed, remain an architectural testimony to the conflicts and reconstructions that marked the region.

In the 20th century, the barracks underwent a radical transformation. In the 1980s, much of the building was demolished, leaving only three historic buildings and the former concierge. These remaining elements, including facades, roofs and fence walls, were protected by an inscription to historical monuments in 1985. This status reflected an increasing awareness of the heritage value of Lille military constructions, as the Philippe Diest analysis in his work on the subject.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the preserved buildings were rehabilitated to accommodate modern institutions. In 1994, three of the buildings were renovated for the European House of Human and Social Sciences (MESHS), a unit of the CNRS. In 2003, a new contemporary building, Souham 3, was added, split into two bodies. At the same time, the former concierge was attributed to the municipal police, illustrating a functional conversion of the military heritage.

The site also preserves traces of the Saint-Maurice bastion, although only its layout and a vestige of the courtine remain. These elements recall the original integration of the barracks into the defensive system of the city. Finally, in 2019, the opening of the Mama Shelter shopping centre and hotel around the old bastion marked a new stage in the economic and tourist development of this historic place.

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