The Château de Flers is a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

located in

Villeneuve d'Ascq Villeneuve-d'Ascq (; pcd, Neuvile-Ask) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Métropole Européenne de Lille and the largest in area ...

, 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 televis ...

department of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It hosts the Château de Flers

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

and the tourism office of Villeneuve d'Ascq city. The château is named after a former nearby village of Flers-lez-Lille.

History

The château, completed in 1661, is very characteristic of the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

architecture of the 17th century. From 1667 to 1747, it belonged to the De Kessel family, the Seigneurs of Flers. In 1747, Philippe André de Baudequin, seigneur of Sainghin, obtains the seigneurie of Flers and the château from his De Kessel cousin. In 1770, Marie-Claire-Josephe de Baudequin married count Ladislas de Diesbach. When his wife died in 1791, he inherits the château and he will be the last seigneur of Flers. Around 1787, the château was modified: the

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s of the windows were removed, the French ceilings were replaced by box-section ceilings, and new chimneys were built. The original drawbridge was replaced by a new one, which still exists. The archway arcade is from this time. During the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the family emigrated. The château, entrusted to the care of the former gardener, fell in disrepair and was eventually converted into a farmhouse (''La ferme d'en bas''). In 1937, Paul Delesalle-Dewas sold the château to the De Diesbach family. In 1951, it was listed as a historic monument. In 1969 it was purchased by the State of France, in 1973 it passed to the commune, and in 1986 to the city of Villeneuve d'Ascq. The restoration was completed by 1991. Since then, the building houses the tourism office and other municipal departments.

Architecture

The château is characteristic of the Flemish rural architecture of the 17th century.

Château de Flers Museum

Four rooms in the basement were doing up an archeologic museum in 1991. The museum hosts also temporarily exhibitions, about archeology, local history and regional ethography.

Gallery

Image:jielbeaumadier_flers_chateau.jpg, Château de Flers around 1900 Image:jielbeaumadier_chateau_flers1_2008.jpg, Le château from the back Image:jielbeaumadier_chateau_flers2_2008.jpg, Entry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De Flers Houses completed in 1661

Flers Flers may refer to several communes in France: * Flers, Orne * Flers, Pas-de-Calais * Flers, Somme * Flers-en-Escrebieux, Nord * Flers-lez-Lille Flers-lez-Lille is a former commune in the Nord department in northern France, merged into Villeneu ...

Buildings and structures in Villeneuve-d'Ascq Museums in Nord (French department) Art museums and galleries in France History museums in France 1661 establishments in France