Simon Vollant (1 February 1622 – 1694) was a 17th-century French engineer, entrepreneur and architect ennobled in 1685. Vollant built the

citadel of Lille The Citadel of Lille (french: Citadelle de Lille; nl, Citadel van Rijsel) is a pentagonal citadel of the city wall of Lille, in France. It was built between 1667 and 1670.Lille Office of Tourism"Monuments", retrieved 28 April 2013 It hosts th ...

and became the most renowned

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

builder for Vauban, Louvois and

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. He directed or controlled the principal works of fortifications of the cities, inspected the various fortresses of the north of the country and advised the generals. As a civil architect, he built the in Lille, considered by some to be a masterpiece. He drew the plans of the new district Saint-André de Lille. His advice was sought and followed for the channelling works of the

Deûle The Deûle (; nl, Deule) is a river of northern France which is channeled for the main part of its course (from Lens to Lille). The upstream part is still partly free-flowing and is known as the Souchez. The Deûle flows into the Lys (right ban ...

and to bring the waters of the

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.hôtels particuliers, houses like those in , various buildings and squares.

Biography

Vollant came from an old Lille family of entrepreneurs and architects, then called "master masons". Born in 1622, he was the son of Jean Vollant, master mason (architect), and Jeanne Pronier. and the brother of François Vollant, architect of the . In 1646, Simon Vollant is indicated as "master mason" having several apprentices. He was dean of the master masons every year from 1648 to 1659, the year when his brother François succeeded him in this title.

Citadels and fortresses

In 1667, Vollant directed the construction site of the

according to the plans of Vauban. The collaboration between the two men was exemplary. The town had to be enlarged, and Vauban imagined financing part of the fortification work by the added value realised on the land of the new district. Vollant estimated this gain at over 800,000

French livre The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins ...

s, an estimate confirmed by the intendant. For the construction of the citadel, he employed 6,000 workers and reported to Vauban and to Louvois. On the recommendation of Marshal d'Humières, Vollant was appointed engineer to the king and ordinary architect of his armies, in reward for his services, according to a letter from Louvois of April 1668..Michèle Virol, ''Vauban : de la gloire du roi au service de l'État'', éditions Champ Vallon, 2003, . Simon Vollant drew the plans for the new district of Saint-André, on a very regular basis, around two main streets, the other streets being perpendicular to each other. This district, under construction from 1670, became the "

Faubourg Saint-Germain ''Faubourg Saint-Germain'' () is a historic district of Paris, France. The ''Faubourg'' has long been known as the favourite home of the French nobility, French high nobility and hosts many aristocratic ''hôtels particuliers''. It is currently pa ...

" of Lille, with numerous hôtels particuliers.Philippe Marchand, ''Histoire de Lille'', volume 5, éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot, 2003, . At the same time, he was responsible for building the new

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

of Lille, from 1671 to 1676, again after plans by Vauban.. During the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...

, Vollant's opinions were sought during the war councils preparing the strongholds attacks, and "his favourably listened opinions did not contribute little to the taking of these places", according to Louis XIV. The king then chose Vollant to control the work on the fortified towns of

Courtrai Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and larges ...

Ath Ath (; nl, Aat, ; pcd, Ât; wa, Ate) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Arbre, Ath, Bouvignies, Ghislenghien, Gibecq, Houtaing, ...

and

Bergues Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders". Bergues ...

, and inspect the towns and places of

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

, the fort of Escarpe,

Audenarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, H ...

, Halle,

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

and

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

.. Then Vollant directed the work of the fortifications of

Menen Menen (; french: Menin ; vls, Mêenn or ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Menen proper and the towns of Lauwe and Rekkem. The city is situated on the French/Be ...

, in liaison with Louvois, and to the satisfaction of the king.

The Porte de Paris

Vollant was also in demand for civil architecture. He determined the means of digging the canal from the

to the Scarpe, and gave his opinions "approved as necessary" to bring the waters of the

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

To celebrate the return to France of Lille and the

Walloon Flanders Walloon Flanders (Dutch: ''Waals Vlaanderen'', French: ''Flandre wallonne'') was a semi-independent part of the County of Flanders, composed of the Burgrave, burgraviates of Lille, Douai and Orchies. It is sometimes referred to as ''Lille–Douai ...

, on order from Louvois and Louis XIV, Vollant transformed from 1685 to 1694 the Porte de Paris (then called the "gate of the Sick"), in

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

. The plan he made was approved in September 1684 by Louis XIV and Louvois. The work on the triumphal arch was carried out in stages, according to financial possibilities, and was not completed until about 1695, one year after Vollant's death.. The Porte de Paris thus answered more to imperatives of prestige than to any military concern. It was decorated with large

doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

, trophies and statues. But the gate itself was only a small opening following the draw-bridge, which still gave the whole a defensive role, and made it considered as "one of the last masterpieces of military history".

Jacques Thuillier Jacques Thuillier, (March 18, 1928, Vaucouleurs, Meuse – October 18, 2011, Paris) was a French art historian specializing in 17th-century French painting. Thuillier was an honorary professor at the Collège de France, where he taught history ...

, ''Histoire de l'art'', Paris, Flammarion, 2009, .

Other works

Vollant was also responsible for the design and construction in 1687 of the houses of the "Rang de Beauregard" (or Rang de Beau regard) on the Place du Théâtre in Lille. The harmonization imposed by the city included alignment rules, a two-storey plan with a mansarded attic and a large cellar, all built only in

dimension stone Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled, ground, or other) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements. A ...

s and

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s. Vollant respected these rules and made a synthesis between the French

classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

of the time and the local Flemish architecture.Site structurae
page about the Rang de Beauregard
He also drew the plans for the Hôtel de Métilly, rue du Gros-Gérard, which was completed in 1695, one year after his death.Site structurae
page about Simon Vollant
He was also appointed ''Grand Argentier'' (treasurer) of Lille from 1671, which displeased Lille residents who considered it abnormal that their treasurer was at the same time, by his status as director of fortifications or contractor, one of the main spenders. He was then prosecutor of the Magistrate of Lille, from 1684. Some authors also attribute to Vollant the beginning of the construction of the Pont-Neuf de Lille completed in 1701 and of various later works, the general hospital, the Palace of Justice and the Archives, which would rather be attributed to his sons, having been built and completed after his death.."Voland or Vollant", in Charles Bauchal, ''Nouveau dictionnaire biographique et critique des architectes français'', Paris, Daly fils et Cie, 1887, .

Coat of arms

He was ennobled in 1685. The rules of

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...

accompanying his letters of nobility attributed to him the arms This were

canting arms Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial allus ...

with the semi-vols for "Vollant"..

Family

Vollant married Marie Villain, originally from

, daughter of André Villain, dean of the master masons (architects) of Tournai. * Their children were: ** François Pasquier Vollant, received as master mason (architect) in 1656. ** Jean François Vollant, received like his brother as master mason in 1656. ** Jean Vollant. ** Marie-Catherine Vollant, wife of (1658–1734),

lieutenant général Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and

combat engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare ta ...

. ** Marie-Jeanne Vollant. Vollant married Marguerite-Félicité Haccou for a second marriage.

Homages

Ennoblement Ennoblement is the conferring of nobility—the induction of an individual into the noble class. Currently only a few kingdoms still grant nobility to people; among them Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Vatican. Depending on time and regi ...

in 1685. * Plaque on the citadel of Lille: ''Louis le Grand la voulut / Vauban la dessina / Simon Vollant l'édifia''. * Place Simon-Vollant, in Lille, place where is located the Gate of Paris that he built. * Rue Simon-Vollant in

Lambersart Lambersart () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. This commune is located in the Métropole Européenne de Lille, and is a suburb of the city of Lille, bordering it on its northwest side. Inhabitants of the town are called ...

Notes and references

* L. Quarré-Reybourbon, ''La porte de Paris, à Lille, et Simon Vollant son architecte'', Paris, Plon, 189
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* Other references and notes

Bibliography

* L. Quarré-Reybourbon, ''La porte de Paris, à Lille, et Simon Vollant son architecte'', Paris, Plon, 189
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* . * . *
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* Louis de Grandmaison, ''Essai d'armorial des artistes français. Lettres de noblesse. Preuves pour l'ordre de Saint-Michel'', , Réunion des sociétés savantes des départements à la Sorbonne. Section des beaux-arts. Ministère de l'instruction publique, 1903, 27th sessio
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External links

Simon Vollant
on Structurae {{DEFAULTSORT:Vollant, Simon French military engineers French urban planners 18th-century French architects 1622 births People from Lille 1694 deaths