Douai (pop. 44,742), an industrial town centered on coal, situated south of Lille on the river Scarpe, did not finally become French until 1713. From 1652 to 1889 it had a university, originally founded by the Spaniards. The central feature of the town is the Place d'Armes or Grand'Place. A short distance to the west is the 15th C. Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), with a defensive tower (the interior of which is open to the public). To the east is the Porte de Valenciennes (15th C.), a relic of the old town walls, and to the south of this, in an area once occupied by defensive works, is the municipal park.
In Chartreuse, north of the Town Hall is the church of St-Pierre (18th C.) which contains numerous pictures and has a massive 16th C. tower. On the far side of the Scarpe, housed in a former Carthusian monastery (16th and 17th C.), is the Musée de la Chartreuse, with works by French and Dutch artists, including the beautiful Anchin Altar (by J. Bellegambe, 1509-1513), a fine collection of Italian Renaissance pictures and prehistoric and Gallo-Roman antiquities.
Address: Musée de la Chartreuse, 130, rue des Chartreux, F-59500 Douai, France
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Bastille Day - France (July 14), Assumption Day - Christian (August 15), All Saints' Day - Christian (November 1), Remembrance Day / 1918 Armistice Day (November 11), Christmas - Christian (December 25)
Tips: One must book two weeks in advance for a guided tour. Free admission on first Sunday of each month.
This large summer festival is the most popular in the region and takes place in early July. The festival honors Gayant who, according to legend, was the image of Jehan Sire De Cantin, the man who freed Douai from besieging Normans at the end of the ninth century.
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