Guided tour "Cœur de Ville"

Today, following this "Coeur de Ville" guided tour, you enter a city dreamed by one man, Charles de Gonzague. Let your guide lead you to discover each of the subtleties that have made the Ardennes capital.

Let's go back to May 6, 1606. Charles de Gonzague, nephew of Henry IV, Duke of Nevers and Rethel, Governor of Champagne, has just celebrated his 26th birthday.

On this occasion, he decided to create a great capital for his new sovereign principality. Charles-ville was born. The prince intends to create there his own ideal city. The Ardennes bastion of the Counter-Reformation which will rival the nearby Protestant princely capital, Sedan.

For this great project, he called upon Clément Métezeau, brother of the renowned Louis Métezeau, architect of the Place Royale in Paris, which today is the Place des Vosges.

He wanted this new city to be built according to a very precise model. A checkerboard plan where the number 4 is omnipresent. The project includes a central square, which would become the jewel of his vision, the Place Ducale.
127 metres long by 90 metres wide, it is framed by 27 pavilions, all of which obey the rule of 4, each with 4 bays, 4 bays on each floor, 4 dormer windows and 4 oculi on the roof. It is the starting point of 4 streets leading to the 4 districts that make up the city.