Armentières

Armentières is a commune in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France, lying on the Belgian border northwest of Lille on the right bank of the river Lys. It belongs to the Métropole Européenne de Lille and its motto is Pauvre mais fière, meaning poor but proud. French Flanders became French in 1668, and at the turn of the twentieth century the town won fame as the City of Fabric, with weaving, spinning and brewing helped by the presence of water. It suffered badly in both World Wars, including mustard gas shelling in 1917 and 1918, and was rebuilt, its new town hall opening in 1934. The belfry, designed by Louis Marie Cordonnier, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005.