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HISTOIRE
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Ancient capital of Artois, Arras is currently the capital of the Pas-de-Calais region. Near the Scarpe and Crinchon rivers there are currently more than 44,000 who call themselves “Arrageois” and “Arrageoises.”
In the 14th century, Arras became a leader in business thanks to its internationally renowned tapestries (known in Italy under the name of arrazi). After the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, Arras became a fortified town boasting a large agricultural marketplace. However, Arras was a prize in the competition between Bourgogne and France, and was destroyed in 1477 by Louis XI. He renamed the city “Franchise” at this time. In 1492, Arras fell into Spanish hands, and was plundered. It was also during this period that the textile industry was surpassed by agriculture. In 1640, Louis XIII regained an interest in the city: first Condé, and in 1654, Turenne, invested. Arras left Spanish control in 1659 as per the Treaty of the Pyrenees. The city was quiet for over a century: however, it was a city divided into the bourgeois city surrounding the Abbey Saint-Vaast, and the fortified town on the hill, divided by the Crinchon. The two joined together to form one municipal body in 1749. Today, a site of a university over 12,000 students strong, Arras shows its strengths in communication, in agriculture, in farm-produce, and in mechanical engineering.
MONUMENTS...
For information on visiting these monuments, please contact the Office
du Tourisme : Hôtel de ville, place des héros
Special Thanks to Maryanne Lewell for the translation ;o)
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The
history of Arras dates back to the pre-Roman era, when it was known
by the gaul name of Nemetocenna – from the celtic Nemeton, meaning
“sacred place.” The town took the Roman name of Nemetacum
as it spread to Baudimont hill under the influence of the Augustinian
Empire. Known for its colourful and luxurious draperies, Arras became
known as Atrebatum under the late Roman Empire. The Atrébates,
which held Arras as its capital, was one of the last gaul populations
to resist Julius Caesar. Their leader, the king Comnius, fought beside
Vercingetorix in 52. Arras, under the Late Roman Empire, became a place
of worship dedicated to the cult of Cybèle and of Attis.
In
407, the barbaric invasions destroyed the city. It was the Bishop Saint
Vaast, who reconstructed it at the beginning of the 6th century, creating
a Bishop’s seat and palace from the 5th century. In the 9th century,
Arras came under the control of the counts of Flanders before it became
a diocese in 1092 and finally part of the Royal domain near 1180. The
name Arras for the town did not appear until the 12th century, according
to etymologists, and is directly related to the celtic “Ar”
indicating tapping water – certainly a reference to the location
of the city vis a vis the Scape and the Crinchon. Others hypothesize
that the name Arras was created from a contraction of Atrébates
to Ars, Aras, and finally Arras.
Two
magnificent historic squares dominate the heart of Arras: the
Grand’Place and the Place des Héros, together comprising
over 17,000 meters square. Originally conceived as large marketplaces,
these were the main centre of trade activity in Arras from the
11th century. These unique squares are in the baroque Flemish
style, seen in the 155 house facades and the 345 stone columns
that surround the cobblestone squares. The Grand’Place housed
rich agricultural/seed merchants. These date, for the most part,
to the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1790 during the French Revolution,
a demonstration took place at the Grand’Place celebrating
the national holiday, anticipating the larger one in Paris. Largely
demolished during the Great War, they were reconstructed stone
by stone after 1918, faithfully following their previous appearance
(even though they were formerly wooden, instead of stone and brick).
The facades present a number of sculptured signboards – bells,
helmets, sheaves of wheat and cauldrons make an appearance. The
Place des Héros (formerly the Petit’Place) is dominated
by the large bell tower. Arras’s town squares have similar
characteristics in style to other squares in Northern Europe (Belgium,
the Netherlands, Germany), but are uniquely “arrageois”
underground, as they spread over two or three levels of cellars
that connect to “les boves.” They are linked by the
“rue de la taillerie” (taillerie means measurement).
A
watchtower serving to prevent possible enemy attack, and to warn
of fires, Arras’ bell tower is a cousin of the Flemish bell
towers. This monument, towering 75 meters above the Place des
Héros, was known before its destruction for its incorporation
of Gothic, Renaissance and Second Empire (Napoleon III) styles.
It was constructed between 1463 and 1554, and enlarged twice:
first in 1572 and again in 1658. The architect Jacques le Caron
designed the same crown atop the Arras bell tower as for that
in Audenarde, Belgium. The bell tower greatly resembled that of
the Cathedral of Antwerp. Mostly destroyed in the devastation
of the Great War (1914-18), the Arras bell tower was reborn in
a more sober style during the 1924-1932 renovation following the
plans of Pierre Paquet. The golden lion atop the bell tower brandishes
a sun.
This
was one of the largest French religious constructions of the 18th
century, the Cathedral of Arras sits 26 meters wide and 105 meters
long, under a 32 meters tall vault. The abbey church for the abbey
of Cardinal Rohan (known for his implication in “the affair
of the necklace of the Queen”), the Arras cathedral was conceived
by Jean-François Labbé, Louis XV’s architect,
and resumed by Constant d’Ivry, a project manager for the
church of Madeleine in Paris. The abbey, dating back to the 18th
century, was built on three levels representing three classes
(the “plan ternaire”). Construction of the cathedral
itself, however, was interrupted by the Revolution; re-established
on the initiative of Napoléon I; and finally inaugurated
by the Monseigneur de la Tour d’Auvergne in 1833. Its Greco-Roman
style gives the cathedral a unique, luminous beauty.
The
neighbour of the cathedral at the feet of the ancient gallo-roman
town is the abbey Saint-Vaast. A Benedictine abbey, it was founded
in 667 on the Madeleine hill: it was to become the cradle of the
future city of Arras, as well as the place of meditation for Saint-Vaast.
In the 18th century, renovation of the abbey was undertaken by
Dom Vigor de Brios and the Cardinal de Rohan. Today it holds the
Museum of Fine Arts, which counts amongst its holdings archaeological
treasures of Arras, medieval artefacts, and an overview of French,
Flemish and Dutch 18th century painting, as well as a room dedicated
to the “MAYS”.
Maximilien
de Robespierre (1759-1794), one of the most infamous revolutionaries,
was a native of Arras. He was a lawyer to the Artois council.
The house, built in 1730, was his home from 1787 to 1789, at which
time he left Arras to settle in Paris as a member of the Estates
General.