Accommodation near Arras train station: bedroom 1

Arras is a French commune, historic and administrative capital of the Pas-de-Calais department, at the heart of the most extensive agro-food economic zone north of Paris. Capital of Pas-de-Calais, Arras is however, with its 41,000 inhabitants, only the third most populous city in the department after Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer. It is the seat of the urban community of Arras, which brings together 108,000 inhabitants in 46 municipalities. With the cities of the former mining basin located a little further north, it is directly influenced by the “Lille metropolitan area”, a metropolitan area of almost 3.8 million inhabitants, the center, city of Lille, is only 45 km away. Historically, Arras was under the Ancien Régime the capital of the province of Artois, a large religious center and a prosperous city known for its cloth making. A university city, Arras is characterized today by its great youth: indeed, 33% of the inhabitants of the agglomeration are under 25 years old. It is also famous for its Main Square Festival which is held every year in July and which has become a major musical event in France. Arras is renowned for its two magnificent Baroque squares which form an architectural ensemble unique in the world, its belfry and its Citadel, both classified as World Heritage by UNESCO. With 225 buildings protected as historic monuments, Arras is the city with the highest density of monuments in France.