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Aire sur la Lys © atelierphotographic - 03 21 12 10 00 - 06.04. Pas-de-Calais - France Aire-sur-la-Lys A town on the river Lys Aire-sur-la-Lys is strategically placed in the lowlands between the Mountains of Flanders and A place of heritage and history the Artois hills. The layout of the The tower of the collegiate church of Saint-Pierre and the watchtower town has been influenced by its (the Beffroi) are focal points to be picked out on the horizon. They draw many rivers, of which the Lys and attention to the town’s role as a historical centre. The town’s houses, also Lacquette wander between the its religious, military and commercial buildings, contribute to the special houses. identity and history of the town. Its natural surroundings The marshes, woodlands and ponds which mark the surrounding contryside are manmade. Without losing their agricultural identity, these varied landscapes are also open for the observation of fauna and flora in their natural habitat, and for fishing and rambling. The history of a town A link in a chain of fortifications The wars of Louis XIII and Louis XIV were about the return of Artois to the kingdom of France. They were concluded by the Treaty of Nimegue (Nijmegen) in 1678 and it confirmed the return of Saint-Omer and Aire A « new town » to the bosom of France. The military position of Aire, a link in Vauban’s Aire was born out of the political ambitions of the Count of Flanders, second line of defence, was strengthened by a clever use of water from Badouin II, who wanted to consolidate his principality. Thus its origins were the river, controlled by a system of sluices and water-gates. These fine similar to other strategically placed Flemish towns. Among them are Lens, defensive works, however, could not prevent the capture and destruction Béthune, Lillers and Douai. The ducal château was built around 900AD of the town in 1710 by the coalition forces (English, German, and Dutch) and together with the foundation of a collegiate church made for a secure during the War of Spanish Succession. With the passing centuries and attractive place where a town could and did develop. Aire, a French town The secular government Reintroduced into France by the A mercantile centre Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Aire The town experienced a rapid of the town growth in the Middle Ages, thanks The burgenses, the bourgeois began to be rebuilt in a classical to trade and crafts which were or townsfolk, established their style and following a precisely laid- encouraged by the presence of the own traditions which shaped down town plan. The appearance Lys, even then a navigable river. their relationship with the Duke, of the town has changed. The The market, a space dedicated and between the inhabitants classical architecture of the rebuilt to trade became the centre of the (mutual support, etc.). These houses in the Grand’Place were town. Its character was defined customs were gathered and set made to harmonise with the new round a central area of Rue de down in what is known in Aire Town Hall. The more modest Saint-Omer - the Grand’Place - as the Charter of Friendship houses were from then on aligned Rue d’Arras. (Lex Amicitiae). This charter with the streets and adopted a received ducal approval in 1188. design for their façades which And when a urban secular were noticeably classical in their government, detached from the regularity and uniformity. Duke’s authority, was set up, new buildings began to appear : a covered market, a town hall, e e a watchtower. The town made Changes in the XIX et XX for itself symbols of a new, urban centuries power. The dismantling of the fortifications at the end of the nineteenth remains to one side of the great century permitted the growth regional upheavals and, today, A prosperous town of boulevards along the line is at the centre of a group of From 1237 to 1384, Aire was a fortified town belonging to the counts of the old town walls where communes, numbering around of Artois. Then Aire became a Burgundian possession on the death of industries new to the town grew 15 000 inhabitants. Aire-sur-la- Louis le Male («the Manly») in 1384, and it became a pawn in the game up (breweries, a gasworks, a Lys is attached administratively, of marriage alliances and inheritances under the Hapsburgs. Commerce, foundry, a sawmill). The opening culturally, and from the point of largely aided by the transhipment of goods on the Lys, flourished. Was not out of the town to the country was view of tourism to the locality of therefore the joyful entry of the Emperor Charles V into Aire in 1549 to be seen as a key to the future and the Audomarois. seen as a rare and unparalleled occasion ? a sign of modernity. Yet the town The Grand’Place The building of a new stone flames. The watchtower, built of brick A market place town hall and watchtower A vast triangular space, the Grand’Place was always where merchandise After the return of Aire to France and stone and also designed by and goods were exchanged. As the economic heart of the town, it drew to in 1713, the magistrates of the Heroguel, rises from behind the itself the magistrate’s hall, the headquarters of administrative power, and town set out the steps for the royal Town Hall. The two buildings are authorities which were required linked by the Salle de Loup which The essentials the watchtower, symbol of communal freedoms. for building their new town hall. in olden days housed the valuable Completed in 1721, it was built documents of the commune (acts according to the design of an of establishment, seals, etc.) The Bailliage pedestals. The first-floor façade rests above the ribbed and arched architect from Arras, Heroguel. vaults of the gallery. The façade Its classical façade gains its has wide barred windows with rhythm from its colossal pilasters, distinctive cross-pieces. But it is wide vertical bands, jutting out The creation of an the sculptured decorations which from between the openings. architectural unity catch the eye. From the horizontal The emphasis is stronger in the In 1722, the magistrate imposed frieze, where coats of arms and central part where the openings a restriction on the growth of the insignia of the Golden Fleece are bigger. The main window town which gave the Grand’Place stand out, to the tritons over the was given a symbolic balcony a new look. The façades were windows ; from the Virtues and the for issuing proclamations. The to be adorned with pilasters, Four Elements, semi-reclining in classical decor blossoms in according to the example of the Attic poses, to the carved niches the topmost part : a powerful Town Hall in order to form an of the main façade ; the principal pediment with the arms of the architectural whole, intended as motifs and decorative themes of town, enhanced by cornucopia. an affirmation of magisterial and the bailliage are largely inspired by It is surmounted by figures monarchical power. the Italian Renaissance. representing Justice and Power, Classified as a historical monument rising from the balustrade, and in 1886, the bailliage has coats of arms and braziers with Inaugurated in 1600, the bailliage undergone many restorations. Its was built as the guard-house central position, «at the doorstep for the town militia. At the same of the town», and nowadays, its time and not without difficulties role as the Tourist Office, makes it between the powers, it served as a required stop for all ceremonies, the bailiff’s* court which continues celebrations, and processions. to give the building its name today. As a building, the bailliage is heir * The bailiff is an old name used to to the medieval Flemish tradition. designate the Official of the royal law. It Its exterior is characterised by a corresponds today to the magistrate. covered walkway or gallery, the canopy of which is set on eight monolithic pillars with heavy Religious architecture an eventful history. The wounds of war are The former Jesuit college Gravely damaged by slow to heal. and the chapel of Saint- the sieges of 1641 and The collegiate church Jacques 1676, it was ruined of Saint Pierre is Recognised by Pope Paul III in by that of 1710 when the most important 1540, the Company of Jesus was it lost its vaults, high example of the set up to propagate and defend windows, and the Flamboyant style in our the Catholic faith. Dedicated to education, the Jesuits set up The essentials upper storeys of the region, and in spite of tower. reconstructions and foundations which rapidly became In the nineteenth restorations, it retains a great success in what is known community. Initially it was put at century, Monsignor its original design and as the Counter-Reformation. the disposal of the army which The collegiate Edward Scott, a so its architectural The towns of Douai, Cambrai, stored explosives and animal church of Saint- rich dean, returned unity is genuine. Saint-Omer in the sixteenth fodder in it. Then it became a the chuch to «its Among the century and Aire in the following Pierre military riding school, and was Established in 1059 ancient glory» by masterpieces found century were endowed with Jesuit only reopened as a church by Baudouin V of Lille, giving it luxurious wall inside are a seventeeth colleges. The college buildings of after negotiations between the the construction of the painting, a coloured century organ (1633) Aire, established in 1639, were municipal and military authorities.

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