Rihour Palace is located on the square of the same name in central Lille.
The building has had a turbulent history.
It was built from 1453 to 1473 for Philip the Good, who wanted a new palace. Not only the marshland enclosed by the course of the Deûle would prove detrimental to the sustainability of the palace, but it was completed during the reign of Charles the Bold.
Flamboyant Gothic, built of brick, it had four wings forming a quadrilateral.
Bought in 1664 by the city he served therefore "town hall".
In 1700, a fire damaged the north wing and in 1756, another disaster devastates the west wing. In the meantime, King Louis XV stayed in the palace, he considered uncomfortable.
Partial remodeling has not convinced, the palace was completely destroyed in 1846 and rebuilt in 1857 in a neo-Renaissance style. Only the chapel of the fifteenth century was preserved.
Historical Monument in 1876, the palace was again destroyed by fire in April 1916 following an accidental fire, but the curfew in effect delayed the intervention of firefighters.
The council was then transferred and the palace demolished in 1918, except for the chapel (also called the Conclave room) and staircase of the fifteenth century (which had been moved to the nineteenth). In 1929, before the remains of the palace was built the memorial.
Today, the ground floor of the former guardroom home to the city tourism office and the old chapel, which one notices the cross vault and the windows, houses temporary exhibitions.
Open every day. Information at +33 8 91 56 20 04.
