Once called Astices. Attiches whispers tales of a village with ancient roots.
Attiches is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It sits about fifteen kilometers south of Lille. Attiches rests at the western edge of Pévèle. It borders the Carembault area.
Let’s explore Attiches further. The arms of Attiches display a bend chequy. It features gules and argent of two traits. This heraldry connects Attiches to its past. The village sits in the Artois-Picardie basin. The Marque and Prez rivers drain its lands. The Marque runs for 32 km. It starts in Thumeries and joins the Roubaix canal.
The climate here is classified as a degraded oceanic climate. The average yearly temperature was 10.4°C between 1971 and 2000. The average annual rainfall reached 698 mm.
Attiches is a rural town. It forms a single-municipality urban unit. This makes it an isolated city.
The land use in Attiches is mainly agricultural. In 2018, 66.2% of the land was for farming. Arable land made up 54.8%. Forests covered 20.5%. Urban areas took up 13.3%.
Old names for Attiches include Attiche and Astices. The locals were humorously nicknamed “mingeux d’carottes”.
Historically, Attiches was thought to be a chapel. It depended on Seclin. The Saint-Piat collegiate in Seclin owned the altar. It also owned the tithe of this village. Pope Clement III confirmed this in 1187. The lordship of Attiches was part of the châtelains of Lille’s heritage.
The municipality has seen several mayors. F. Chrétien held office in 1802-1803. Blauwart was mayor in 1807.
The population of Attiches was 2,241 in 2022. The population density is about 335 inhabitants per km2.
The current Château d’Attiches was built in 1880. Léon Maurice, the son of a former mayor of Douai, built it. During World War I, German forces occupied the castle. The famous German aviator Von Richthofen, known as “the Red Baron,” stayed here. In 1940, the castle hosted the headquarters of the 1st French Army. It remains a private residence owned by the builder’s descendants.
Attiches offers a glimpse into French rural life. Its history is woven into the land. The rivers and the stones tell its story.