30 Facts About Lille

Lille is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders.

Lille was again under siege in 1792 during the Franco-Austrian War, and in 1914 and 1940.

Today, the historic center, Old Lille, is characterized by its 17th-century red brick town houses, its paved pedestrian streets and its central Grand'Place.

The belfry of the Hotel de ville de Lille is one of the 23 belfries in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Somme regions that were classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in July 2005, in recognition of their architecture and importance to the rise of municipal power in Europe.

Lille pushed the counties of Flanders and Hainaut towards sedition against Jeanne in order to recover his land.

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Lille fell under the rule of France from 1304 to 1369, after the Franco-Flemish War .

Lille thus became one of the three capitals of said Duchy, along with Brussels and Dijon.

Lille came under the rule of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1519.

In 1667, Louis XIV of France successfully laid siege to Lille, resulting in it becoming French in 1668 under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, provoking discontent among the citizens of the prosperous city.

In 1858, Lille annexed the adjacent towns of Esquermes, Fives, Moulins-Lille and Wazemmes.

In 1896 Lille became the first city in France to be led by a socialist, Gustave Delory.

Lille was liberated by the Allies on 17 October 1918, when General Sir William Birdwood and his troops were welcomed by joyous crowds.

Lille was the hunting ground of the German World War I flying ace Max Immelmann, who was nicknamed "the Eagle of Lille".

The Opera de Lille, designed by Lille architect Louis M Cordonnier, was dedicated in 1923.

From 1931, Lille felt the repercussions of the Great Depression, and by 1935, a third of the city's population lived in poverty.

When Belgium was invaded, the citizens of Lille, still haunted by the events of World War I, began to flee the city in large numbers.

Lille was part of the zone under control of the German commander in Brussels, and was never controlled by the Vichy government in France.

Lille was instead controlled under the military administration in Northern France.

Lille was chosen as a European Capital of Culture in 2004, along with the Italian city of Genoa.

Lille can be described as having a temperate oceanic climate; summers normally do not reach high average temperatures, but winters can fall below freezing temperatures, but with averages quite a bit above the freezing mark.

Former major mechanical, food industry and textile manufacturing centre as well as a retail and finance center, Lille is the largest city of a conurbation, built like a network of cities: Lille, Roubaix, Tourcoing and Villeneuve-d'Ascq.

The conurbation forms the Metropole Europeenne de Lille which is France's fourth-largest urban conglomeration with a 2016 population of over 1.

Employment in Lille has switched over half a century from a predominant industry to tertiary activities and services.

Metropole Europeenne de Lille has a mixed mode public transport system, which is considered one of the most modern in the whole of France.

The Lille Metro is a VAL system that opened on 16 May 1983, becoming the first automatic light metro line in the world.

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Lille is an important junction in the European high-speed rail network.

Sixth one—the A24—would have linked Amiens to Lille if built, but the project was rejected several times then abandoned.

Lille is the third-largest French river port after Paris and Strasbourg.

Lille is site of the University and Polytechnic Federation of Lille, a large private educational university that includes a medical school, business school, law school, etc.

Lille is home to Lille Lacrosse, former national champion and continuously one of France's best lacrosse teams.