La Citadelle de Lille

The place where Bailey and I walk every day is called the Citadel. Where we walk is actually the area surrounding the Citadel, a fortress built in 1667 by Vauban after taking Lille for the French king, Louis XIV, (the "sun king"). It's known as the queen of the citadels because it was the first one built in the design of a five pointed star, which became the new standard of defensive design. The grounds surrounding the Citadel in Lille, which include peripheral defensive structures, have become a public park but the actual fortress itself is still in use by the military. It houses the headquarters for NATO's rapid deployment force. It is normally closed to the public but they periodically hold tours, one of which was yesterday, a snowy Sunday afternoon. 

The tour was offered through the Lille office of tourism. You have to sign up in advance and show up with an ID, which they take and hold in exchange for a visitor's badge that you wear throughout the tour. It was focused on the history of the Citadel and necessarily the history of Lille and was very interesting. Lille is located in the area known as Flanders, which has changed hands several times. At one time Flanders was itself a sovereign territory and it included part of what of now Belgium and the Netherlands. It has variously been held by Spain, Austria, and France over the centuries. Of course, the tour was conducted in French so I couldn't really follow what the guide was saying but Clay gave me occasional translations of the essential elements sotto voce. 

Did I mention that it was snowing? It was one of the coldest days we've had for a while and the snow was coming down pretty fast in a strong wind. The tour guide gave a lot of the tour when we were in a couple of the indoor spaces included on the tour. It was very good. I have become very familiar with the structures outside the walls on my twice daily hikes with Bailey so it was nice to see things from the other side.

This is the front entrance, known as the royal port.

Notice the three fleur-de-lis on the center shield? That's the royal emblem. The city of Lille uses a single fleur-de-lis, generally white on a red background. Bailey wears one on her collar.

There is still a drawbridge at the entrance. The fortress was surrounded by a moat, or series of moats, remnants of which still remain in the surrounding parkland. 

Emblem of the sun king in the stone ceiling of the entry passageways. 

Between fires, sieges, and bombings, the buildings inside of the fortress walls have mostly been rebuilt and replaced over the years, although a few original structures or fragments remain.

The guide gave a lot of her exposition in this room at the beginning and end of the tour, out of the snow.

The royal port from the inside. Most of the ground is covered with cobblestones although there are some trees in the center, where they still do military drills and marches.

One of the original fragments.

This is the chapel, a blessed respite from the snow and wind, although it was still quite cold.

They employed shipbuilders to construct the curved timber structures of the roof and you can see why.

This is the Dauphin's Gate, the back entrance to the Citadel. I've posted pictures of this from the outside from some of my walks. 

The foundry. The Citadel was designed as a city in itself, containing everything needed within it's walls to withstand a long siege.

This was the entrance to the bakery. Those are bags of grain in the pediment.

Bailey on our evening walk around the Citadel. There was some accumulated snow but it wasn't really cold enough to last.

Wearing her coat and collar light, perched on a stump.