Armentières (; , ) is a commune in the

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

department in the

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

region in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is part of the

Métropole Européenne de Lille The Métropole Européenne de Lille (, MEL; ) is the , an intercommunal structure, composed by a network of big cities ( Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Armentières etc.) whose major city is the city of Lille. It is located in ...

. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud).

Geography

Armentières lies on the Belgian border, northwest of the city of

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, on the right bank of the river Lys.

History

In 1668, the town became French, along with most of the rest of

French Flanders French Flanders ( ; ; ) is a part of the historical County of Flanders, where Flemish—a Low Franconian dialect cluster of Dutch—was (and to some extent, still is) traditionally spoken. The region lies in the modern-day northern French regi ...

. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Armentières acquired fame, being the "City of Fabric". Industrial

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

and

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

grew in Armentières, benefitting from the presence of water. Armentières particularly suffered during the World Wars although the town received two Military Crosses, one for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the second for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. In Armentières and the surrounding areas, the military cemeteries are places of remembrance for the casualties of the world wars. " Mademoiselle from Armentières" was a popular song among Allied soldiers in

. During World War I, in October 1914, the town was the site of the

Battle of Armentières The Battle of Armentières (also Battle of Lille) was fought by German and Franco-British forces in northern France in October 1914, during reciprocal attempts by the armies to envelop the northern flank of their opponent, which has been called ...

. Later in the war, Armentières was repeatedly shelled by the Germans with

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...

. In July 1917, 675 civilians were wounded of which 86 died due to lingering residue, as the agent was a new and unknown weapon. In April 1918, German troops shelled the town again. British troops were forced to evacuate the area, but the Germans could not enter for two weeks because of the heavy contamination. Witnesses to the bombardment stated that the shelling was so heavy that liquid mustard gas ran in the streets.

Population

Heraldry

Railways

Armentières has a railway station on the line from Lille to Calais and Dunkirk. It was commissioned in 1848 by the

Chemins de Fer du Nord The Chemins de fer du Nord''French locomotive built in 1846''

(Northern Railway Company). The buildings were completed in 1861. The station is currently served by
TER Hauts-de-France TER Hauts-de-France is the regional rail network serving the French administrative region of Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is owned and operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2017 from the previous TER ne ...
trains, on the routes between
Lille-Flandres station Lille-Flandres station (, ) is the main railway station of Lille, capital of French Flanders. It is a terminus for SNCF Intercity and regional trains. It opened in 1842 as the ''Gare de Lille'', but was renamed in 1993 when Lille Europe station ...
and
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
, and between Lille-Flandres and
Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, , , ) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught ...
.Site SNCF , Informations pratiques sur les gares et arrêts
Gare d'Armentières
(consulté le 29 janvier 2020).

Twin towns – sister cities
Armentières is twinned with: *
Litoměřice Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat of the Roman C ...
, Czech Republic *
Osterode am Harz Osterode am Harz (, ), often simply called Osterode (Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Lower Saxony in central Germany on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the ...
, Germany *
Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, it had a population of 26,830. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east o ...
, England, United Kingdom

Notable people
*
Amédée Fournier Amédée Fournier (7 February 1912 – 30 March 1992) was a French professional road bicycle racer. He won a silver medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in the team pursuit event. Major results ;1932 :Silver medal 1932 olympic games, team pur ...
(1912–1992), cyclist, Olympic medalist *
Jean Maurice Fiey Jean Maurice Fiey (30 March 1914 – 10 November 1995) was a French Dominican Father and prominent Church historian and Syriacist. Biography Fiey was born in Armentières on 30 March 1914, he entered the Dominican Order at an early age and rece ...
(1914–1995),
Church historian Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of th ...
and
Syriacist Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity. A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist. Specifically, British, French, and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of ...
*
Dany Boon Dany Boon (; born Daniel Farid Hamidou on 26 June 1966) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. Starting out as a comedian during the 1990s, he found success in 2008 as an actor and director in the film comedy '' Welcome to ...
(born 1966), actor and stand-up comedian * Martin Terrier (born 1997), footballer

Monuments
The belfry of Armentières was inscribed on the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
in 2005 as part of the
Belfries of Belgium and France The Belfries of Belgium and France are a group of 56 historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, in recognition of the civic (rather than church) Belfry (architecture), belfries serving as an architectural manifestation of ...
site, and in recognition of their influence in the rise of municipal power in Europe. The belfry, just like the nearing city hall was designed by the architect Louis Marie Cordonnier and is open for visitors and tourists.

In fiction

Milady de Winter Milady de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, père, set in 1625 France. She is a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is one of the dominant antagonists o ...
in ''
The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' hides in Armentières. She is caught and executed there. The bawdy song, '' Mademoiselle from Armentières'', was popular amongst British and American troops during World War 1. There are multiple version of the lyrics, that mostly refer to a woman from the town.

See also
*
Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):

References

External links

Official website
(in French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armentieres Communes of Nord (French department) French Flanders