Hidden Douai

Hello
Let’s start at the very beginning.
The city of Douai was created in the 10th century by Count Arnould.

He diverted a nearby river, the Satis, which became the Scarpe. This waterway became an essential element in the city’s history, since it enabled many commercial enterprises and industries to develop. Thus, the flour trade, breweries, the textile industry and tanneries enriched the city.

We’re currently standing on the Place d’Armes, or parade ground. It’s kept the same layout since the Middle Ages, when it accommodated the wheat market. The building we’re now leaving, today the tourist office, is the Dolphin Mansion. Don’t bother looking for a dolphin, because it’s not on the facade. It’s called the Dolphin Mansion because it’s on the site of an older residence of that name, which the city purchased in 1739.

The current edifice was built in 1756 by a Parisian architect. Thus, in the 18th century, Douai slowly lost its Flemish character to become French. The buildings all around were erected after the destruction of the First and Second World Wars.

Today, the Place d’Armes is still very busy and remains the city’s main square.

We’re facing the most beautiful belfry of the region, according to Victor Hugo, who called it ‘so amusing, so crazy, so lively.’

UNESCO recently classed it as a World Heritage monument, and it dates from the medieval period, since its construction started in 1380.

But just what was a belfry for? Well, it had three functions.
First of all, it housed the civic bells, which marked time in the residents’ lives.
Secondly, it was a watchtower. In case of attack or fire, the number of bell strikes showed where to go.
And finally, it had a symbolic function, since its very existence showed that the city had acquired its communal liberty.

Today, the belfry still provides high-quality sound with a ring of 62 bells. It’s central to concerts and festivals throughout the year, and some of the world’s greatest bell ringers have come to Douai to ring the bells.

Originally, this was a corner tower, since the City Hall only had one wing. Afterwards, in the 19th century, a second wing was added, since the architecture of that time always sought to make a building’s different parts symmetrical.

The City Hall was once called the aldermen market. The aldermen based there were the same as today’s city councilmen, and were the predecessors of today’s municipal council.

Now, walk under the vaulted arch. You’ll find a quieter place to discover another view.

Douai, from the borders of Hainaut and the Artois, is the southernmost city of the County of Flanders.
Look at the top of the belfry: the majestic Lion of Flanders keeps watch.

We’re now standing in front of Douai Theatre. Built in 1785, it’s still in use, which is rather rare. Its facade is neoclassical, meaning it evokes antiquity.

Architecture makes reference to long horizontal and vertical lines. Think about Greek and Roman theaters, do you see what I mean?

Inside, the auditorium is in the Italian style. That is, all the spectators, from the ground to the balcony, are facing the stage. That wasn’t the case, for example, in the ancient arenas, where the public was placed all around the playing area. The theater sets preserved from the 19th century are today classed as historical artifacts.

At the time it was built, several shows followed one after the other, matinees and evenings, and silence wasn’t required. The public ate, chattered, and commented on what was going on on the stage. The common people had their place, up high in the ‘gods’, called the ‘henhouse’ in French, or the upper balconies. People came to the theater to see, but also to be seen.

Marceline Desbordes-Valmore deserves to be mentioned here, since she debuted in this theater in 1802. Born in 1786 in Douai, this actress later became a poet and writer. She died in 1859 after writing much about her city, Douai. Lauded by the critics of her era, she’s today remembered as one of the greatest poets of the first half of the 19th century.

We’re standing in front of the Aoust Mansion now.

The Aoust family settled in Douai in the 15th century, when two brothers married two young women from Douai.

Constructed in the 18th century, it’s said that this mansion is ‘between courtyard and garden’.

Let’s go first into the main courtyard. You can see the body of the main building, which was reserved for the family, as well as two wings: one for the staff, and one for stables. And there was indeed a garden, on the other side of the building’s central part.

We now look at the floor of the nobles. Which one’s that? Well, it’s the one with the most decorations: here, the first floor. You can see four statues of women in high relief, representing the four seasons: Winter with her torch, Spring with her luxurious vegetation, Summer with her sun, and Autumn with her hunting dog.

The family motto was ‘Fruit of the labors of Aoust’. And ‘Aoust’ is a word which means ‘August’ in French. Yes indeed, they liked to make puns with their names.

Here, we get acquainted with the building materials used in Douai. The base is sandstone to prevent seepage, and the upper levels in brick, layered with white stone. This is an aristocrat’s residence, so the brick is whitewashed with salmon lime, and the usual tile roof gives way to slate, which is more noble.

The mansion was sold as a national asset in 1796 and then changed hands many times. Occupied by the Germans during the First World War, it was then the headquarters of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining region.

Today, a historical monument, it belongs to the State and is the seat of the Douai Administrative Court of Appeal.

Here we are in front of the Textile Mansion.

In Douai, in the midst of the humblest homes, by taking a side street detour, you can still come across mansions like this one, or the Aoust Mansion which we’ve just left.

It was built in 1649, as you can see, because the date’s carved on the facade. A brewer built it in Flemish Baroque style. At that time, the Netherlands were Spanish, which explains the rather elaborate architectural decor.

You can find the same materials as those used in the Aoust Mansion, sandstone and brick, which are privileged for these lovely homes.

Ever since the Middle Ages, this square has been dedicated to the sale of saltwater fish.

Freshwater fish were sold at Place d’Armes, the parade ground, along with wheat.

In the Middle Ages, there was a wood building here, the MANGUE, that occupied the center of the square and where fish were sold by auction and decreasing bids. The term mangue meant ‘it’s mine’, and fish buyers ‘manged’ to obtain the lowest possible price. This term persisted afterwards, since it was used to mean a market well into the 19th century.

The square’s layout hasn’t changed. Some Flemish houses can still be seen. They’re the ones with their roofs perpendicular to the street. As a result, they have narrower facades. This was practical, since in the Middle Ages, you paid your taxes according to the width of your house.

This square, dedicated to the fish trade in the Middle Ages, was reconstructed after the two sieges of the Spanish War of Succession in 1710 and 1712. At that time, houses were aligned as recommended by the town planning regulations of 1718.

Look at the 18th-century houses on the other side, perfectly aligned with one another. Douai building materials—sandstone, brick, and tile—are used. The houses are connected with a dripstone, which has the same function as a cornice molding, to stop water from pouring down. The roofs are fairly steep and separated by small walls to prevent fires from spreading.

As you walk, take a good look around you. These traditional houses can still be found all over the city.

The Church of Saint-Jacques or Church of Saint James, originally Place Carnot, was destroyed during the French Revolution.

In 1851, the city decided to rebuild this parish and placed it here in the old chapel of the English Récollets Convent, one of the religious orders that came to Douai during the Reformation.

In fact, a number of Catholics came to Douai to train as priests before leaving to serve in England.

But let’s get back to our chapel. It was too small and needed to be enlarged, which is why the architect Grigny made new plans which included a transept, a chancel, and a dome.

After this small step, we’re now at the Musée de la Chartreuse, or Carthusian Museum.

The first courtyard contains a mansion erected in 1559 in the Flemish Renaissance style with its square tower. This belonged to the Abancourt family before being enlarged by the Montmorency family. The Carthusian order purchased it and added the chapel in 1722.

Between the first courtyard and the chapel, there are the Carthusian monastery buildings. And there’s still a small cloister which escaped the revolutionary destruction. The Spartan style of the chapel is characteristic of the Jesuit style of architecture.

The Carthusians were expelled in 1793, and the army then requisitioned the building as a munitions base. The current museum was set up in 1958.

If you have the time, you should escape through the centuries to 17th-century Holland and Italy and 19th-century France. The museum is packed with riches.

And just one minor historical event: in the 18th century, the Father Superior of the Carthusians eloped with the Mother Superior of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital. And that’s where we’re going now.

This building dates from the 17th-18th centuries, and it was used as a hospital caring for the sick, unlike the General Hospital, despite its name. It was in operation until the 20th century.

The building’s style is Gothic, in spite of its construction date. You can see the transom windows.

Now, try and find a small black spot on the facade. You see it? Well, that was the trace of a cannonball from the sieges of 1710-1712, during the Spanish War of Succession.

In the 18th century, this was the old refuge of the Marchiennes Abbey. The monks were housed and kept their wheat here.

As an example of Gothic architecture, the building possessed oculi, round openings in the upper part of the building today blocked up, allowing air to circulate in the rooms where the wheat was stored.

It also had large arcades all along the facade, open onto the Scarpe, from where boats could directly unload their goods.

These were also blocked up, but rediscovered in the 20th century during restoration work. Three of them were reopened as a reminder of the building’s medieval past.

In the 18th century, all French provinces had the right to a parliament, an ancestor of the courthouse. That of Flanders was located in Tournai, but soon, Tournai was no longer part of the Kingdom of France, and in 1714, the refuge of the Abbey became the Flanders Parliament.

At the end of the 18th century, the Lille architect Lequeux worked on the main facade, which opens onto the Place de Pollinchove.

Below the base pediment, he included sculpted references to Justice: the sword, the scales, and the mirror, in the form of allegories, as well as the Tables of the Law.

Lequeux died in Lille, murdered by one of his workmen before he completed this job.

The Collégiale Saint-Pierre, or Collegial Church of Saint Peter, the parish church of the members of Parliament, has been in existence since the Middle Ages, but it’s been reconstructed several times.

Its tower porch is Gothic, though you can see it’s rather compact. That’s because, in 1686, when construction was completed after over a century, Gothic architecture was no longer the fashion, so a balcony was erected instead of a steeple.

The clergy wanted the tower to reach to a height of 80 meters to overtop the belfry which belonged to the aldermen we spoke about earlier, but the ground was too soft, so it only measures 43 meters.

The main body of the classical-style church is 112 meters long. If you climb up the belfry, you’ll get the best possible view of Saint-Pierre.

The oldest house in Douai is located at the corner of the Rue des Huit-Prêtres. 

This quaint-looking house, listed as a historical monument, is familiarly called the Sunflower House.

It was built in 1906 according to the principles of Art Nouveau, rich in curves and rounded edges.

The architect, Peipe, is the son of the man who built the neo-Gothic part of the city hall. So the style changed radically in just one generation.

We mentioned it earlier, and here it is: the General Hospital.

You can go directly inside into the courtyard.

The hospital dates from the mid-18th century. In fact, no hospital business was ever conducted here. It claimed to be a shelter after the houses of charity were eliminated. Under Louis XV, imprisonment was the rule. A poor person was considered a handicap on society, so he was locked up and fed, but also forced to work.

The building, in sandstone and brick, was built following the era’s principles of symmetry, in a quadrangular shape with a cross in the middle of it.

This cross formed four wings: one for women, one for men, one for young girls, and one for young boys.

They were connected on the ground floor by a kitchen, which was called the ‘bread tower’, and on the first floor by the chapel.

Later, the building was long used as a hospice.

When you’re in the courtyard, you can still see the date, 22nd of July 1752, across from you on the pediment of the main entrance. That’s the date that the hospital’s first stone was laid by Monsieur de Pollinchove, Flanders Parliament’s first president.

Finally, when you leave the building, take a look at the outside pediment. This is the work of the sculptor Théophile Bra and represents Charity. Under her cloak, she protects a widow and an orphan on one side, and an old man on the other.

We’re now standing in front of the Porte de Valenciennes or Valenciennes Gate, which was called Notre-Dame Gate (Our Lady Gate) until the Revolution.

This is where the 14th- and 15th-century fortifications were located.

At first, there was only one passage through.

Numerous transformations were made until two lateral passages were created in 1880 to make things easier for the traffic.

But imagine standing here when Douai became part of France, because this was where Louis XIV entered the town for the first time in 1667.

This is Notre-Dame or Our Lady Church.

One could say that for Douai inhabitants, its long existence represents the history of their ancestors.

Notre-Dame Church was a small chapel outside the city walls back in 1175. It was built at a fair distance to serve as a watchtower in case of attack.

It became a parish in 1257, since the outer city had grown considerably and the population had increased.

In the 15th century, after two centuries of work, it was transformed from a chapel to a church.

The current oldest parts of the church date from this period.

It was considerably damaged during the Second World War, then restored and reopened in 1980. Currently, it’s the only medieval church in Douai.

We’ve reached the end of our walk. If you have time before returning to the tourist office, go inside and take a look at the stained-glass windows.