Lille's location in France is north east of Paris and literally miles to the Belgian border.
The town began as early as 1066. (the same year as the battle of Hastings). Lille first major structure was that of a citadel built in the late 1660s. It today is still used by the French military. Lille first belonged to Belgium.
The city's stock exchange dates back to the early 16th century, a birth place of an important citizen of France and during world war two Lille was a location to a major battle (as well as Dunkirk).
A lot of flemish influence has been used with the buildings in Lille such as the city hall, cathedral and Stock exchange. The city hall built later than the stock exchange has been built using reinforced concrete to support it's walls.
The cathedral built during the 16th century was never finished untill recently where a side of the building has a modern concrete wall
Lille's old town still has cobble stones on the streets which are apart of the modern day street plan. I can only imagine the frequency of having to change tires constantly.
Charles De Gaulle was born in Lille in 1890. He spent many years in the city growing up and became a military general during the wars. Becoming the president in 1970.
During 1983 a massive expansion to it's city transport system was built. Lille's underground was the first city to be operated without a driver.
The Eurostar station was built in 1994 which led to the beginning of a mass of modern architecture (known as Gare Lille Europe)
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