Vieille Bourse, Renaissance commerce building in Grand Place, Lille, France.
The Vieille Bourse is a Renaissance-style building on Lille's Grand Place composed of 24 matching houses arranged around a rectangular courtyard. The facades feature ornate windows and carved decorative elements spread across multiple stories.
Built between 1652 and 1653 during Spanish rule, the structure functioned as Lille's main trading hub for centuries. It lost its commercial importance after 1921 when a newer exchange building opened, but the structure has endured to the present day.
The courtyard serves as a gathering place where booksellers set up their stands and locals play chess throughout the year. This ongoing use keeps the space connected to daily community life rather than existing only as a museum.
The building sits centrally between two main squares and is accessible to visitors from Tuesday through Sunday. Visiting in the afternoon or on weekends offers the best chance to see the courtyard filled with activity.
The facades display colored cartouches bearing coats of arms from companies that funded the building's restoration during the 1800s. These details often go unnoticed even though they mark an important chapter in the structure's later life.
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