Sure it's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but just a little treasure of architecture that i propose you to discover.

this building, composed by 24 little houses, overlooks the Grand' Place.
the "Vieille" Bourse ("Old" Stock exchange) is called in this way after having built, in the 20's, the Nouvelle Bourse (New sotck exchange - It's the building with the Belfry that you can see in the picture 2) which is located just behind.

all begins in the 15th century, when the richest merchants, still trading in the Grand' Place since the creation of the city, wanted to have their own "bourse", where they could trade far of the envious eyes and, by the way, to protect their products from the rain and thiefs....
Built under Charles Quint, when lille made part of the Spanish Netherlands, it was a centre where richest Flemish merchants traded their famous high-quality cloth before selling it in the 24 little shops.

Nowadays, the 24 little shops shettler the newest modern trade mark. every week, in the courtyard, people uses to go there to buy old postal cards or old books.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2163/grandplacevieillebourse9hw.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grandplacevieillebourse9hw.jpg)


La Grand' Place
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/3171/grandplace37ne.jpg (http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grandplace37ne.jpg)


One of the 4 main doors with the city symbol in its top
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/3048/closeddoor1ir.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=closeddoor1ir.jpg)


frontage details
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/103/grandplacevieilleboursefaade20.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grandplacevieilleboursefaade20.jpg)


the courtyard
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9728/vieillebourse32hp.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vieillebourse32hp.jpg)


http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7404/nsaturdaynighttourism3jx.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nsaturdaynighttourism3jx.jpg)



http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7690/fgrandplacevieillebourseetbffr.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fgrandplacevieillebourseetbffr.jpg)


http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5645/vieilleboursetango5gt.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vieilleboursetango5gt.jpg)


for this little jewel, i would give a 7.5

beautiful! a precious little jewel.9.5/10

BEAUTIFUL 9.0/10

8.5/10

Very beautiful building.

9/10

Beautiful. 9/10.

9/10

I must admit the Grand' Place in Lille is easily on par with the other Grote Markten in Belgisch Vlaanderen. Only the fact that this square is partly open to cars degrades this wonderful urban space a little bit.

9.5/10

Fantastic! 10/10

9/10

I must admit the Grand' Place in Lille is easily on par with the other Grote Markten in Belgisch Vlaanderen. Only the fact that this square is partly open to cars degrades this wonderful urban space a little bit.

nowadays, every weekend, the grand' place is closed to cars in order to be completely closed in 2007 (if i'm not wrong).
Lille just begins to discover its touristic potential,... so just let time to the city to think about it. ;-)

9/10 - Very nice, though not my stile... still something to be proud of!

9.5/10

really amazing

9.5/10

beautiful
10.

9/10

9/10

9.5/10

9/10

9.5/10

8.5/10.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Lille_Vieille_bourse_%282%29.jpg/425px-Lille_Vieille_bourse_%282%29.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/France-Lille-VieilleBourse-Cloitre.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/France-Lille-VieilleBourse-FacadeGrandPlace.jpg/450px-France-Lille-VieilleBourse-FacadeGrandPlace.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Lille_Vieille_bourse_%281%29.jpg/800px-Lille_Vieille_bourse_%281%29.jpg
wikipedia.org (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieille_Bourse)

9,5/10

9/10

9/10

9,5/10

"Rich", the colours mix so well and are so apealing to the eye.9/10

:eek:

10/10

9/10

9/10

9. Very good. Regards.

9/10

10/10

9/10

9/10

10/10

8/10

9/10

9/10

9/10

8/10

9/10

9/10