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Key figures

Origin and history

The building at 51 Grand Place in Arras, built in the 4th quarter of the 16th century, is part of a remarkable architectural complex with the house next to the 53. These two buildings, located at the corner of Rue du Pignon-Bigarré, survived the bombings of the First World War. Their present arrangement, compared to the old plans, reveals a piece of land almost unchanged since their construction, offering a valuable testimony to the urban planning of the Renaissance. The facades, frames, roofs and vaulted cellars (on capital columns) illustrate the construction techniques of the era.

The interiors and rear facades, protected since 1998, include 16th century elements, such as old doors and a backyard house with a turret. The historical relief plan made it possible to document precisely the provisions behind the facades classified in 1921. This complex, combining bourgeois habitat and medieval structures (caves, frames), reflects the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era in a prosperous shopping town like Arras.

Ranked Historic Monument for its façade in 1921, and extended to other parts in 1998, the building embodies the resilience of the hindquarter heritage. The vaulted cellars and the columns with capitals suggest an older, perhaps medieval, origin reused during the construction of the sixteenth century. The backyard house, with its first level and turret, completes this painting of a habitat that is both functional and representative of the social status of its occupants.

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