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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The buildings at 15-17 rue des Arts in Lille have been listed as historical monuments since 1944 for their facades and roofs. This section of the street, formerly called rue des Foulons (XI century) and then rue des Recollets (XVII century), was home to bourgeois and artisanal activities, including tincture guards, corporations linked to the dyeing of fabrics. These houses are located in a neighbourhood marked by the presence of the convent of the Recollets (founded in 1249), whose adjacent lands were renovated in the 19th century to accommodate the Lycée Faidherbe and the Faculty of Science.

After the French Revolution (1793), the Rue des Arts became a major educational centre. It housed the École centrale de Lille (1796-1803), the academic schools (drawing, architecture, chemistry), as well as the Musée des beaux-arts (1792-1848) and the municipal library, all of which were housed in the former buildings of the convent of the Recollets. The buildings of Nos. 15-17, although less documented than the neighbouring institutions, embody this transition from an artisanal and religious past to a school and cultural vocation affirmed in the 19th century.

In the 19th century, the Rue des Arts was profoundly transformed by the construction of the Imperial High School (1852), designed by architect Charles-César Benvignat on the site of the destroyed convent. Civil buildings, like those of nos. 15-17, preserved despite these developments, recall the gradual urbanization of Lille, between medieval heritage and hausmannian modernization. Their inscription in 1944 underscores their heritage value in a neighbourhood where religious memory, industrial revolution and public education intersect.

Today, these buildings are part of an urban landscape where Carnot College (since 1964), the Recollet Garden, and traces of old corporate activities coexist. Their preservation offers a tangible testimony of the metamorphoses of Lille, from medieval corporations to contemporary educational institutions.

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