Places to see in ( Valenciennes - France )

Nicknamed Athens of the Nord, the town of Valenciennes saw the birth of a number of famous artists, such as Antoine Watteau, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Henri Harpignies. Numerous works of the painters and sculptors of Valenciennes can be admired at the Fine art museum. Just shy of the Belgian border in the Nord department, Valenciennes is a city noted for culture and creativity, which gave it the nickname, “Athens of the North”. For hundreds of years this relatively small place churned out painters, sculptors and architects who helped shape French culture forever.

You can sample the works of figures like Carpeaux and Watteau at Valenciennes’ fine arts museum, and view invaluable early French manuscripts by appointment at the Bibliothèque Municipale. Valenciennes stood in the path of two World Wars, but restored its monuments and has just revamped its centre with a trendy shopping mall.

In a city that has long prided itself on its culture Valenciennes’ fine arts museum is a treat. It opened in 1801, presenting the works of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and today is loaded with works by French, Flemish and Dutch masters. One that everybody will know is Peter Paul Rubens, and he’s accompanied by a host of familiar names like Bosch, van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Sébastien Bourdon and Camille Pissarro.

Valenciennes, like a lot of the eastern Nord region, lies above rich coal seams which were first exploited in the 18th century. The industry was waning by the 20th century and almost all sign of it is gone today. But if you’re interested in this chapter of the town’s past there are dozens of sites to visit with hints about what went on here across two centuries. The best of these is Fosse Dutemple, a UNESCO site for its colossal reinforced concrete headframe, which was placed above the shaft just after the First World War.

By the Church of Saint-Géry on the Rue de Paris is a refined little garden around a fountain with a dignified statue of Antoine Watteau. Here he is shown with paint brush and palette in hand on a decorative plinth with muses and scrolls. The statue is from the 19th century and was crafted by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, another of Valenciennes’ notable artists. Carpeaux shot to prominence in the 1850s when he received a series of commissions from Napoleon III. Here you’re also just a couple of steps from Watteau’s birthplace, at 39 Rue de Paris.

In the very centre of Valenciennes, Place d’Armes is a grand square and the bedrock of political and commercial life in the city. The striking town hall will hold your attention right away. That ornate facade was fashioned in 1867 by Henri Lemaire, another son of Valenciennes who made waves in the art world. Among other things he crafted the facade of the Gare du Nord in Paris. Scraping the sky in the north end is Litanie, a 45-metre metallic needle on the site of Valenciennes’ belfry, which collapsed in 1840. Up close you’ll notice countless sentences cut from the metal; these were written by Valenciennes’ citizens and are accompanied by recordings of their voices from a speaker.

For a time between the 16th and 17th centuries Valenciennes was under the yoke of the Spanish Netherlands. It was during this period that the handsome timber-framed Maison Espagnole was built. The building with its graceful corbels and leaded windows, had been on the corner of Rue de Mons and Rue des Capucins, but was carefully dismantled and rebuilt here on Rue Askièvre in 1964 when the city’s streets were being redirected.

Recently Valenciennes has done a lot to spruce up the city centre, echoing similar projects at the heart of other French cities over the last decade or so. The biggest job was the Centre Place d’Armes, a stylish shopping centre with all the classic high street stores like H&M, Zara, Sephora and fnac. The mall is right on Valenciennes’ main square, so if it’s a rainy day or you fancy an afternoon of shopping you could easily while a way a few hours in here.

( Valenciennes - France ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Valenciennes . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Valenciennes - France

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