The best cycling routes around La Francheville

The beautiful and strikingly modern town hall of the Mezières district. The adjacent forecourt was traffic-calmed a few years ago. There's also a drinking water fountain in the southwest corner of the square.

nice little race

This artwork is a result of a number of organisations working together, and was revealed in October 2011. Michel Goulet, the sculptor from Québec, made these eighteen 'chair-poems' in stainless steel as a link between the Musée Arthur Rimbaud and the Maison d'Ailleurs. Here, there are eighteen extracts from Rimbaud's works, each one followed by an unpublished poem by a contemproary Francophone writer. Vandaag staan deze stoelen er niet meer.

The Arthur Rimbaud Museum is located in the Vieux Moulin, the old mill listed as a monument, built in 1626. This mill then supplied the city with flour, but it is also the highlight of the monumental perspective that extends from Rue Saint-Charles to the Maas leads - that is why he designed this remarkable architecture with the pediment and the Charleville coat of arms supported by a colossal order of Ionic columns. This monument, also called the Porte de Liège, together with the Porte de France, forms the city's ramparts in a symmetrical manner. Behind it runs the Meuse and the island of the vieux Moulin. On the other bank, a castle was built on Mont Olympe in the 17th century to protect the city.

The bright colors of the local materials can be seen on the facades that were previously painted: yellow for the natural stone from Dom-le-Mesnil, red for the bricks and purple-white for the Ardennes slate. The whole falls under monument protection.

Place Ducale is the central and historic main square of Charleville, the northern part of Charleville-Mézières. The square is a copy of the Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris. The only big difference is that the square in Paris was designed by Louis Métezeau and that of Charleville by Clément Métezeau, so brothers. The square is a feast for the eyes with 28 monumental buildings, built in the same Baroque style. In the center of the square there is a fountain and a classic merry-go-round. The Place Ducale became the beating heart of the city and still is. The symmetrical lines, the chessboard pattern, the arcades and the facades in red and yellow stone now regularly form the backdrop to events for which the city is known. The square was founded by its ambitious founder, the Italian prince Charles de Gonzague, who had a completely new city built in the 17th century. The square is 126 by 90 meters and the current buildings on the edge of the square all date from the 17th century.

The statue of Carlo Gonzaga is the work of Alphonse Colle, from Charleville, who also created the monuments to the fallen of Charleville and Mézières. The fountain was first built on Place Ducale in 1899 at the initiative of a wealthy patron of the Industrial Revolution and then moved to its current location in 1999.

The “Monument aux Morts” in Mézières, now part of Charleville-Mézières, is a memorial that pays tribute to the 397 inhabitants of the city who died for France. The monument is located on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, near the Hôtel de Ville de Mézières.