La Voix du Nord

Let me tell you a little about the grand building of “La Voix du Nord”, with its beautiful gabled façade, in the centre of the square. This is the headquarters of the famous newspaper, which was born underground in 1941 and was the driving force behind a wave of resistance in occupied France. Its first issue stated its intentions loud and clear: “In matters of duty and honor, we do not suffer any compromise; we do not make deals with evil; we do not collaborate with the enemy.” Over 500 people working for the paper paid a high price for their determination and freedom of thought as they ended up being imprisoned, tortured or deported to Nazi extermination camps. The company was officially founded in 1945, after the liberation.  Set at the top of the building you can see the statue of the Three Graces, they stand for the three former provinces of the region: Flanders, Artois and Hainaut, roughly what is today known as the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. The bas-relief around the balcony bears the inscription: “Defending the work of the North” and a series of allegories in the form of sailors, fishermen, workers, farmers and shopkeepers. You will also notice that there are coats of arms above the windows. These are the coats of arms of all the towns that have their own edition of the newspaper. To the right of the building, you will find the Théâtre du Nord. The building is from 1717 and was used to house the soldiers of Louis XIV as they conquered the city. Above the clock you can see a stone carving of the sun, a tribute to the famous Sun King, which commemorates the annexation of Lille to France in 1667. You will also have noticed that a second golden sun sits atop a large building, facing the theatre on the other side of the square. There’s no doubt about it, Louis XIV is alive and well in the heart of Lille. But the real star of Grand Place is the 17 metre high Column of the Goddess. It commemorates the heroic resistance of the inhabitants during the siege of Lille, which was bombarded by the Prussians but remained undefeated. In her right hand she holds the candlestick used to light the cannon’s fuse, and with her left she points to the inscriptions engraved on the base, the famous declaration made by the mayor at the time to the Prussians: “We have just renewed our oath to be faithful to the nation, to maintain freedom and equality, or to die at our post. We are not perjurers”. That immediately sets the mood! On this brave words, let’s keep going.