Place du Théâtre
Place du Theatre is the grand square behind the old exchange, framed by the opera house, the soaring belfry of the Chamber of Commerce, and the handsome arcaded row called the Rang de Beauregard. It is the most theatrical open space in Lille, lined with cafe terraces and crowned by three very different silhouettes.
Sobre este lugar
Place du Theatre takes its name from a theatre that stood here until fire destroyed it in 1903, an event that reshaped the whole square. Where the burnt theatre had stood, the city raised its neoclassical opera house, finished just before the First World War, and beside it rose the neo Flemish Chamber of Commerce with its 76 metre belfry. Facing them stands the oldest element of all, the Rang de Beauregard, a dignified row of fourteen brick and stone houses built between 1685 and 1687 to replace a line of wooden houses from 1551. The name Beauregard reaches back to 1425, when Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, raised a viewing pavilion here to watch tournaments. Look closely at the facades of the Rang and you can still spot real cannonballs lodged in the stone, souvenirs of the Austrian siege of 1792.
Datos clave
- 1903 year — A fire destroyed the theatre that gave the square its name
- 1687 year — The Rang de Beauregard row of houses was completed
- 14 houses — Make up the arcaded Rang de Beauregard facing the opera
📍 Place du Théâtre, 59800, Lille