La Vieille Bourse

The Old Stock Exchange in Lille is a square of twenty-four identical houses built around a central courtyard. Its red brick walls and Flemish Mannerist carvings make it look like a gilded cage. Merchants gathered here in the sixteen fifties to trade, commissioning the structure to show off the city's wealth. A bronze statue of Napoleon stands in the middle of the courtyard today, but the traders left behind their old wooden stalls, which now host vendors selling secondhand books and antique prints.