route
cycling around
the Louvre-lens
MUSEum • BASE 11/19 • mining villages • City cENTRE
welcome !
This brochure designed by the Land of Art and History of the Lens-Liévin city council
invites you to discover the riches that abound in the area surrounding the Louvre-Lens.
The sector between the museum, the major mining site of Base 11/19 at Loos-en-Gohelle
and the town centre of Lens provides the setting for this route between the mining
heritage, the Art Deco architecture of the Reconstruction and the major contemporary
redevelopment schemes. It provides a good opportunity for getting to know the singular
trajectory of a region steeped in its heritage and its projects.
AN EXCEPTIONAL UNIVERSAL HERITAGE
Since 2012, the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin has been a listed UNESCO World
Heritage site. Several sites presented in this route and indicated with a pictogram
form part of the 353 elements selected within the World Heritage scope that concerns
87 towns/villages and includes the following : 17 pits or significant remains : 21 head
frames ; 51 spoil heaps ; 54 km of side pilings ; 3 stations ; 124 mining villages ; 38
schools and school complexes ; 26 religious buildings ; 22 healthcare facilities ; 7 miscellaneous collective facilities ; 3 ‘great offices’ of the mining companies ; 10,000
acres of countryside. For more information on the World Heritage mining basin : www.bassinminier-patrimoinemondial.org
EURALENS: FROM THE BLACK ARCHIPELAGO TO THE GREEN ARCHIPELAGO
The museum-park of Louvre-Lens and the recent developments completed in the surrounding areas form a focal point and the first step in a vast redevelopment programme
for the region. This project defined by the landscape designer, Michel Desvigne, is organised around the mining wastelands, which have been transformed into parks, the former railways used by the mines, which have been transformed into soft mobility links,
and the mining cities and their gardens forming a very high quality urban backdrop. It
heralds the change from a black archipelago to a green archipelago on the scale of the
« Pôle Métropolitain de l’Artois » (600,000 inhabitants) with links to the « Chain of parks »
project that must link the major facilities with centres of attraction by enhancing the
landscape of the mining basin. Find out more: www.euralens.org
A 10 KM CIRCUIT
The route can be completed by bike (from 45 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes) or on foot
(from 2 hours to 3 hours). Those who feel more energetic can also try out the unique
experience of climbing the highest spoil heaps of Europe from Base 11/19 !
Although most of the suggested route is on soft mobility paths and cycle paths, some
portions are open to traffic. For your own safety and that of other people, use the compulsory facilities and respect the highway code.
map
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1 Lens train station
Suggested route
Green spaces / Strings of woodland
Path to the spoil heaps
Tourist Office / Tourist information
2 Mine Railway
3 Louvre-Lens
4 Cité 9
desk
5 Cité des Provinces
The numbering of the points of interest
6 Base 11/19 at Loos-en-Gohelle
is a rough guide and the different sites
7 Spoil heaps of Loos-en-Gohelle
can be visited in another order depen-
8 Cité 12
ding on your starting point.
Bike rental
Other bike routes
9 Bollaert-Delelis stadium
10 Millennium church
11 The great offices
12 Boulevard Basly and place Jean Jaurès
Ask the Lens-Liévin Tourist Office to discover the guided tours, the interpretive tours and the various events proposed all year long
by the Land of Art and History of Lens-Liévin, the Louvre-Lens, the CPIE Chaîne des terrils, Culture Commune as well as the cities
of Lens and Loos-en-Gohelle.
To discover the destination Around Louvre-Lens : www.aroundlouvrelens.fr
3
2
1
1
Lens train station
Opened in 1927, this building made of reinforced concrete by the architect Urbain Cassan
has a shape that looks like a locomotive illustrating the influence of Art Deco during the
reconstruction of the town after the widespread destruction of the First World War. The
entire complex was designed to take into
account the issue of mining subsidence with
foundations in which hydraulic jacks could
be introduced in order to compensate for any
movement in the land. In the entrance hall,
the travellers can admire the Cubism-inspired
mosaics created by Auguste Labouret, that
are evocative of the world of mining and the
railways in particular. Lens station was particularly important for the transportation of the
coal mined in the surrounding region.
4
1. The station of Lens.
2. A coal train on a mine
railway.
3. Detail of one of the
mosaics of Auguste
Labouret inside the
station.
4. View of the landscape
shaped by the coal
mining industry from the
museum park.
5. Houses of the cité 9.
2
mine railway ("cavalier minier")
This path runs along a former mine railway
(cavalier minier), a railway used to transport
equipment and coal between the pits. This
section, in particular, linked the station of
Lens with pit 9 of the Société des Mines de Lens
on which was built the Louvre-Lens.
The strings of woodland now provide a soft
mobility link between the major facilities of
the region and enhance the urban, landscaping and environmental qualities of the new
focal point that is being designed in the area
surrounding the museum.
3
4
3
LOUVRE-LENS
Opened in 2012, the Louvre-Lens was built
on the former coal mining site of pit no. 9 of
the Société des Mines de Lens. These prestigious facilities symbolise the redevelopment
of the region. Designed by the Japanese
architects Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the
SANAA agency and the landscape designer
Catherine Mosbach, the museum-park fits in
subtly within its environment. The location
of the buildings, the architecture, with the
large glazed or anodised aluminium facades
facilitate a permanent connection between
the museum and the landscape setting of
the former mining wasteland thanks to the
reflections and the transparency effect.
In addition to this, the correspondence
between the museum-park and the surrounding countryside, shaped by the coal mining
industry and a heritage of exceptional value,
was a deciding factor in the architectural project as well as for the current and future urban
developments. By visiting the museum-park,
it is also possible to grasp the importance of
the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin listed in
the UNESCO World Heritage register and the
region’s path of regeneration to which the
museum is participating. Unlike the Parisian
museum, which is organised into specialised
5
departments (paintings, Egyptian antiquities, art of Islam, etc.), the presentation of the
works uses a selection that is contained within
a single open space : the Time Gallery offering
a journey through the centuries and civilisations and an alternative look at the collections
of the Louvre. Major temporary exhibitions are
also proposed.
4
CITÉ 9
The so-called "Saint-Theodore" cité 9 (mining
village) in honour of one of the managers of the
Société des Mines de Lens, Theodore Barrois,
was directly linked to the eponymous pit on
which was built the Louvre-Lens museum. The
current rue La Rochefoucauld, which led to
the entrance of the pithead, was where most
of the collective facilities were assembled.
Located at each end, the engineer’s house
and the church of Saint-Theodore (work of the
architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier) emphasises
the hierarchical and moral framework of the
Société des Mines de Lens on the miners and
their families. Rebuilt after the destruction of
the First World War, the cité 9 has a variety of
different types of housing characterised by the
alternation of the materials used, the variety
of the roof volumes and the faux timbering
details.
5
1
6
1. Pit 9 in 1936.
2. The Louvre-Lens.
3. The presbytery, cité
des Provinces.
4. Garden of a miner’s
house, cité des Provinces.
5. Map of the facilities of
the cité des Provinces.
2
3
5
CITÉ DES PROVINCES
The cité des Provinces, which is linked to
pit 11/19 and has about 600 housing units,
belongs to an exceptional complex that bears
witness to the clout of the Société des Mines de
Lens. Built from 1894, it was destroyed during
the First World War and then rebuilt and
extended at the beginning of the 1920s. This
mining village of detached houses arranged in
an orthogonal structure stands out in that the
houses are surrounded by vast plots of land.
Generally grouped in twos or threes, these
houses have great architectural value because
of the variety of different models used. The
centre of the cité des Provinces is made up of
an assembly of green spaces and collective
facilities. Illustrating the paternalism of the
mining industry, these facilities emphasised
the self-sufficiency of the mining village under
the authority of the Société and constituted a
symbol of its power. Most of these buildings
were conserved with the exception of the
church of Saint-Pierre that was destroyed
in 1987 because it had sustained significant
damage due to mining subsidence and lack
of upkeep. The gardens combined with the
mining accommodation contribute to the
quality of the living space. Formerly used as
vegetable gardens for food or recreational
4
spaces for the miners after their work underground, the gardens also provided "healthy
leisure activities" that was encouraged by
the mining companies in order to control the
workers’ free time.
5
7
2
1
6
BASE 11/19 at LOOS-EN-GOHELLE
With the Arenberg pit at Wallers, Delloye at
Lewarde and 9/9bis at Oignies, the 11/19 at
Loos-en-Gohelle is one of the four major iconic production sites of the mining heritage of
the Nord-Pas de Calais basin. Created by the
Société des Mines de Lens, this extraction site
that operated from 1894 to 1986 has preserved most of the buildings that made up the
pithead. The operational use of pit no. 11 from
1894 to 1960 was marked by the destruction of
the site during the First World War and by its
reconstruction at the beginning of the 1920s.
That of no. 19 corresponds with the production concentration phase between 1960 and
1986. When production stopped, the site was
preserved from destruction thanks to the
intervention of local stakeholders who put
together a redevelopment project founded
on the mining heritage, culture, economy and
environment within the context of a "sustainable development reference centre". With
the cité des Provinces and its associated spoil
heaps, "Base 11/19" gives you an idea of the
"mining system" complex and its impact on
the landscape.
8
7 spoil heaps
of LOOS-EN-GOHELLE
Built up with the stony waste of the extraction
process, these spoil heaps, which are among
the highest in Europe, reach a height of 186
m and provide a spectacular view overlooking
the mining basin, the Artois hills, the mounts
of Flanders and the Lille agglomeration.
These special viewpoints are also highly
symbolic in defining the scenic identity of
the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin. They
provide the home for a wide diversity of
flora and fauna, such that they have become
genuine islands of biodiversity. Thanks to the
work done to improve the safety and access
of the sites, they have also become recreational zones that are suitable for hiking or
paragliding.
The spoil heaps are vulnerable spaces. In
order to reduce the erosion of the ground surface, visitors must respect the sites by using
the entrances and pathways provided.
3
8 CITÉ 12 of the SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES
DE LENS
The cité 12 forms a complex with an exceptional heritage that includes remains of the
extraction site, the houses of engineers and
foremen, the workers’ accommodation and
collective facilities. The mining village has
certain remarkable architectural, urban and
scenic qualities. The avenue that leads to the
pit has a monumental view marked by the
layout of the building complex around a succession of embankments and wooded spaces.
Among the teaching, medical and religious
facilities, the church of Saint-Edouard, built
according to the plans of the architect LouisMarie Cordonnier and the school complex
bear witness to the influence of the regionalist style. Beside the former pit 12, the houses
of the engineers and managers overlook the
mining village and their size, decor and location reflect the authority of the hierarchy over
the inhabitants.
9
BOLLAERT-DELELIS stadium
It was built at the instigation of Félix Bollaert
by the miners of pit 5 of the Société des Mines
de Lens during the 1929 depression to avoid
having to make them redundant. The Stadium
of the Racing Club de Lens (club founded in
1906) is a temple of football that is famous for
the enthusiasm of its supporters. Opened in
1933, it was reorganised on several occasions
before adopting its "English style" stadium
layout that places the spectators as close as
possible to the pitch. Significant refurbishment work was undertaken in order to host
several matches of the Euro 2016 tournament.
4
1. Pit 11/19.
2. View of the twin spoil
heaps.
3. Overview of the cité 12
by G. Peltier.
4. The Bollaert-Delelis
stadium.
9
1
10
MILLENnIUM church
In 1919, a wooden chapel was built next to
pit no. 1 of the Mines de Lens while the church
of Saint-Léger was being rebuilt in the town
centre. It was then more specifically assigned to the worship of the Polish families who
relocated in large numbers to the region to
support the reconstruction and work in the
mines. Thanks to the donations of the Polish
community, this church celebrating the millennium of Christianity in Poland was built
in 1966. Inside, the stained glass windows of
the artist, Andrzej Kulesza, evoke the rich and
tormented history of this country. The church
is a living witness to the Polish presence in the
mining basin.
11 the great offices of
the "SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES DE LENS"
10
It was in this building, constructed between
1928 and 1930, that the work of the pits, the
transformation, transport and commercialisation of the coal as well as the everyday life
of the miners and their families (accommodation, social work, etc.) were governed until
the end of coal mining operations in 1990.
Its impressive size, its regionalist architecture inspired by the Flemish Renaissance, its
prestigious Art Deco interiors and the layout
2
of its gardens clearly reflect the design of a
vast decor expressing the restoration of the
power of the Société des Mines de Lens after
the destruction of the Great War. The building
now accommodates the Jean Perrin faculty of
sciences.
12 BOULEVARD BASLY and PLACE JEAN
JAURÈS
Dominated by the church of Saint-Léger, the
place Jean-Jaurès and the boulevard Basly,
which extends from it, constitute the historical heart of the town. During the reconstruction process, no specific rules were imposed.
The buildings of this commercial district then
adopted a variety of architectural styles.
The influence of the Art Deco style, which
was booming at the time, is however very
noticeable. Bearing witness to this, there are
many facades on which one can see various
embossed designs, ironwork or mosaics matching the geometric decorative elements,
the baskets and other stylised floral designs,
which are a feature of this style.
3
1. The white eagle,
emblem of Poland, on the
stained glass windows
of the church of the
Millennium.
2. Art Deco embellishments place Jean Jaurès.
3. The great offices of the
Société des Mines de Lens
from the garden.
4. The church of SaintLéger and the square
before the First World
War.
4
Head of publishing : Sylvain Robert, Président de la Communauté d’Agglomération
de Lens-Liévin (CALL).
Design and creation : CALL / Service Pays d’art et d’histoire / Yann Cussey.
Acknoledgments : Centre Historique Minier Lewarde, Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles, EuraLens, Louvre-Lens, Mission Bassin Minier, Mission Louvre-Lens
Tourisme, Office de Tourisme et du Patrimoine de la Communauté d’Agglomération
de Lens-Liévin, Ville de Lens, Ville de Loos-en-Gohelle.
Photo Crédits : Laurent Lamacz ; Matthieu Brard ; CALL / Yann Cussey ; Coll. JeanMarie Minot ; SANAA / Kazuyo Sejima et Ryue Nishizawa - IMREY CULBERT / Celia
Imrey et Tim Culbert - MOSBACH PAYSAGISTE / Catherine Mosbach ; Hisao Suzuki ;
Centre Historique Minier (prêt ANMT) ; RCLens ; Archives Municipales de la Ville de
Lens.
Map : CALL / Service SIG / F. Cousin ; Source : OpenStreetMap ; DGFIP Cadastre 2016
Graphic design : CALL / Service communication / G. Galvaire according to
DES SIGNES studio Muchir Desclouds 2015
Printed by : Imprimerie L’Artésienne, Liévin
ISBN : 979-10-95203-04-9
11
« you were the black
archipelago,(...),you will become
the green archipelago,
the sustainable city. »
Michel Desvignes, landscape designer and Urbanism Grand Prize, 2011
The Land of Art and History
of Lens-Liévin work on the
development of the heritage,
architecture and landscapes of 36
towns/villages of the Lens-Liévin
Agglomeration Community.
Throughout the year it organises
events for the local population,
visitors and schoolchildren: guided
tours, exhibitions, educational
initiatives using art, teaching
workshops, etc.
In the surrounding area,
Beauvais, Boulogne-sur-Mer,
Cambrai, Chantilly, Laon, Lille,
Noyon, Roubaix, Saint-Quentin
and Soissons benefit from the
Town of Art and History certification; Amiens Métropole, SaintOmer and Senlis at Ermenonville
benefit from the Land of Art and
History certification.
For more information on the local
heritage and the activities of
the "Pays d’art et d’histoire" :
Communauté d’Agglomération
de Lens-Liévin
21 rue Marcel Sembat – BP 65
62302 Lens cedex
Tel. +33 (0)3 21 790 790
[email protected]
To book a guided tour and
obtain information on the
tour :
Office de Tourisme et du
Patrimoine de Lens-Liévin
58 rue de la gare – F-62 300 Lens
Tel. +33 (0)3 21 67 66 66
[email protected]
www.tourisme-lenslievin.fr
NIO MUN
D
L
IA
PA
T
In partnership with :
MO
RI
MO
E
WORLD H
NDIAL •
•
TA
RI
Organisation
des Nations Unies
pour l’éducation,
la science et la culture
E
Bicycles and electrically
assisted bicycles are available
for hire next to Lens station :
Boutique Biclo
Place du Gal de Gaulle
F-62300 Lens
Weekdays: +33 (0) 810 00 11 78
Weekend: +33 (0)3 21 14 62 16
www.tadao.fr
The region of the Lens-Liévin
Agglomeration Community
belongs to the national
network of the French Towns
and Lands of Art and History
The ministry of culture and
communication attributes the
Towns and Lands of Art and History
certification to local authorities
that conduct relevant projects for
enhancing and building awareness
about the heritage.
From ancient remains to the
architecture of the 20th century, the
Towns and Lands of Art and History
create the backdrop for the heritage
in its diversity. Currently, a network
of 186 Towns and Lands offers you
its know-how throughout France.
GE
I
N
Bicycle route around the
Louvre-Lens
The Land of Art and History
of Lens-Liévin designed this
brochure to introduce you to the
rich heritage that abounds in the
Louvre-Lens area.
The route can be completed by
bike (from 45 minutes to 1 hour 30
minutes) or on foot (from 2 hours
to 3 hours).
•
PATRIM
O
Bassin minier
du Nord-Pas de Calais
inscrit sur la Liste du
patrimoine mondial en 2012