Lille was Flemish before it was French, Spanish before it was Bourbon, and occupied twice in the 20th century. Three days trace that layered record: Hospice Comtesse, the Citadelle, Fort de Seclin's WWI guns and the house where Charles de Gaulle was born.
Founded 1237 by Jeanne of Flanders as a hospital, rebuilt after the 1468 fire; the vaulted Salle des Malades and 17th-century Flemish tiled kitchen survive intact. Open Wed–Mon 10:00–18:00, closed Tuesday. Entry €6, reduced €4.
Begun 1854 on the site of a Flemish castle motte, unfinished for 140 years and finally closed in 1999 with a 30mm-thin translucent marble west front. Free entry, open daily 10:00–18:00.
All that survives of the 1453 Burgundian ducal palace of Philip the Good, burned in 1916; the Salle des Gardes and the Gothic Conclave chapel with flamboyant vaulting remain behind the tourist office. Free access during office hours.
A 1621 Spanish-era gate in brick and white stone, part of the fortification ring built when Lille belonged to the Habsburg Netherlands. It survived Vauban's demolitions and the ramparts walk runs along its top.
Vauban's 'Queen of Citadels', built 1667–1670 from 60 million bricks after Louis XIV took Lille; a five-bastion pentagon still used by the French army. Guided visits only, Sundays via the tourist office, around €10.
Commemorates civilians executed by German firing squads during the 1914–18 occupation, when Lille sat behind enemy lines for four years. The bronze figures stand at the foot of the citadel glacis.
A 1874 Séré de Rivières fort south of Lille holding one of Europe's largest private WWI artillery collections — 75mm field guns, uniforms and a preserved powder magazine. Open Sundays 14:00–18:00, €8.
The 1845 column honours Lille's resistance to the 1792 Austrian bombardment; the Goddess holds the linstock refusing surrender, and the plinth quotes mayor André's defiant reply.
The 1890 birth-house at 9 Rue Princesse, restored to its bourgeois Flemish industrial-family state with the christening room and family salon. Open Wed–Sun 10:00–17:00, €6, free first Sunday.
The 19th-century textile-worker district annexed in 1858, built of low brick courées housing mill families; Église Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul and the 1873 covered market anchor a still-working immigrant quarter.
In nearby Roubaix, working looms from the era when the Lille conurbation clothed France; demonstrations show Jacquard and dobby weaving by former mill hands. Open Tue–Sun 14:00–18:00, €7.
A 1932 Art Deco municipal pool in Roubaix built for textile workers, closed in 1985 and reopened as a museum with the basin, cabins and sunburst window intact. €11, closed Mondays.