Lambersart
Situated close to Lille, with the River Deûle running through it and the Bois de Boulogne woods alongside it, Lambersart is first and foremost a residential area. Like all the towns close to Lille, Lambersart suffered considerably during the sieges of Lille in 1667 and 1708. It quickly established itself as an essential place for the local populace. At the beginning of the 18th century, the inhabitants of Lille started to come to Lambersart to relax. Very popular for its Hippodrome (closed in 1792), then for its guinguettes (open-air cafés), velodrome and its swing bridge, it then experienced a significant growth in terms of its population: in the space of a century, the population has increased by almost fifteen times.
Lannoy
Lannoy, famous for being the smallest municipality in France, is located in Ferrain, to the north-east of Lille. A governor from Holland laid the foundations for Lannoy. In 1452, Jehan III, nicknamed "the builder", built a château which, in the 16th century, was passed on to the Nassau family by marriage. He also built a town and erected a wall around it in 1458, making Lannoy one of the first fortified towns in the Northern France. In the 16th century the town developed a dynamic clothing industry which flourished after the French Revolution but declined in the sixties. Protestants, the forefathers of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt are said to have fled Lannoy during the Wars of Religion to go to America.
Leers
Leers is located on the Belgian border. Its history is closely linked to its location. In 1769, the village was divided into two parts by the Treaty of the Limits: one part went to the Netherlands. During the French Revolution, the town suffered serious ravages, notably on 18 May 1794 during the Battle of Tourcoing. Leers had a population of one thousand at the beginning of the 19th century, and went onto become an industrial centre but with farming retaining an important role. Textiles, brickyards, basketries sit alongside marketing gardening, horticulture, poultry farming, salt meat…
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Lesquin
Lesquin is first mentioned in the 11th century in the founding document of the chapter of Saint-Pierre de Lille, which was granted a residence in the village by the Count of Flanders. With just 1,500 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century, the town experienced quick growth and is now one of the region’s logistics hubs. Lesquin is home to Greater Lille’s international airport. It is also located at the crossroads of the Paris-Lille-Ghent and Brussels-Lille-Dunkirk motorways. It is home to the Regional Transport Centre (CRT).
Lezennes
This village hemmed in between Ronchin, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Lesquin and Hellemmes, was once known as Lezennes-aux-Blancs-Cailloux due to its vast chalk quarries that made the stone from Lezennes famous.
The town became French after the invasion of Flanders by Philippe IV Le Bel in 1296, and was linked up with Tournai several years later. It became French again when Lille and Tournai were captured by Louis XIV a few years later, before becoming an Austrian enclave with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Lezennes only became French for good with the Treaty of the Limits in 1769.
Lille
Lille has been associated with Lomme and Hellemmes for around ten years. It was formerly a small village surrounded by the two branches of the River Deûle. In the Middle Ages, it quickly became one of the capitals of the county of Flanders. A Burgundian town in the 14th century, it became French after the siege of the King Sun and acquired an essential military role as borne out by la Citadelle, built by Vauban. In the 18th century, the town affirmed its industrial vocation with its flax and cotton mills, its agri-food industries and the arrival of the railways in 1846. During the 20th century, the population endured the wars and the social setbacks of the industrial revolution. After a period of reconstruction and renovation, Lille established itself as an essential crossroads at the gateway to North West Europe, at the heart of a conurbation of over a million people.
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