1st Itinerary (pp. 25 to 35).--=The Centre of the Town. The Ruins in 1914.= 2nd Itinerary (pp. 36 to 48).--=From the Grande Place to the "Dix-huit Ponts." The Ruins in 1916.= 3rd Itinerary (pp. 49 to 54).--=From the Grande Place to the Citadelle.= 4th Itinerary (pp. 55 to 58).--=The Old Town.= FIRST ITINERARY _Quarters destroyed by the bombardment of 1914_: =Rue de Paris=, =Rue de Tournai=, =Rue Faidherbe=, etc. _Monuments seen on the way_: =The "Bourse,"= =Town Hall=, =Palais de Rihour=, =St. Maurice's Church=, =Tournai Gate=, =Theatre=, "=New Bourse=." _Starting-point_: The Grande Place. [Illustration: _Starting from the =Grande Place=, follow the streets indicated by =thick lines=, in the direction of the =arrows=._ _The blocks of buildings shown by the blank spaces were destroyed by the 1914 bombardment._] [Illustration: THE OCCUPATION: PARADE OF GERMAN SOLDIERS IN THE GRANDE PLACE _Left: Column commemorating 1792; right: Corner of the Bourse._] The Grande Place In the centre of the Square is a fluted Granite =Column= by _Benvignat_, erected in 1848 to commemorate the _Siege of Lille_ in 1792. At the top is a =statue= of _Jeanne Maillotte_ holding a lighted torch in her hand. During the siege of the town in 1792, she crossed the enemy lines and set fire to the Austrian batteries which were shelling the town. The name of this heroic woman was given to one of the streets, in which a later hero, M. Eugène Jacquet, lived _(see p. 44)_. The inhabitants have surnamed the statue _"The Goddess."_ [Illustration: THE DELIVERANCE: ENTRY OF THE 5TH BRITISH ARMY INTO LILLE _In front the "Goddess" statue (left) and the Theatre (behind the Bourse)._] [Sidenote: _See itinerary, p. 25_] Behind the column is the "=Bourse=" or Stock Exchange. Square in shape, it stands between the Grande Place, Rue des Sept-Agaches, Place du Théâtre and Rue des Manneliers. Rising above the roof is a polygonal turret, the upper part of which forms a terrace with small timber-work campanile. It has been restored in recent times. [Illustration] The "Bourse" The Bourse is the finest specimen of 17th century Flemish architecture in France. Dissatisfied with transacting their business in the open, twenty-four merchants of Lille petitioned the King of Spain, Philippe IV., for permission to erect a building in the Place du Grand Marché, to be known as the "Bourse." The plans of the architect _Julien Destré_ were accepted in 1652. It was stipulated in the specification that the façades should be "of like symmetry and construction," that only the armorial bearings of the King were to appear over the entrances, and that the twenty-four buildings composing the edifice should be beneath one continuous roof, so as to form a harmonious whole. The petitioners were to guarantee the completion of the building within a given space of time.