Simon Vollant

Vollant built the citadel of Lille and became the most renowned fortifications builder for Vauban, Louvois and Louis XIV.

He directed or controlled the principal works of fortifications of the cities, inspected the various fortresses of the north of the country and advised the generals.

[2] The town had to be enlarged, and Vauban imagined financing part of the fortification work by the added value realised on the land of the new district.

On the recommendation of Marshal d'Humières, Vollant was appointed engineer to the king and ordinary architect of his armies, in reward for his services, according to a letter from Louvois of April 1668.

He determined the means of digging the canal from the Deûle to the Scarpe, and gave his opinions "approved as necessary" to bring the waters of the Eure into the palace of Versailles.

[P 5] To celebrate the return to France of Lille and the Walloon Flanders, on order from Louvois and Louis XIV, Vollant transformed from 1685 to 1694 the Porte de Paris (then called the "gate of the Sick"), in triumphal arch.

But the gate itself was only a small opening following the draw-bridge, which still gave the whole a defensive role, and made it considered as "one of the last masterpieces of military history".

The harmonization imposed by the city included alignment rules, a two-storey plan with a mansarded attic and a large cellar, all built only in dimension stones and bricks.