The Mélantois, historic cradle of Lille, has always been a land of welcome and exchange.
The first traces of life Seclin back to the very beginning of Prehistory. Archaeologists trace its origins to more than 100 000 years. Lapidary traces discovered in downtown or on other sites near the Deûle Valley are evidence that the Mélantois and its surroundings attracted and fixed in the Paleolithic, Neolithic and especially the first sedentary inhabitants of Lille. A city "lake" dated around 3500 years BC was discovered in Houplin-Ancoisne. Later, traces of life on centuries near the present village of Noyelles-lez-Seclin, confirmed the interest of Mélantois as a crossroads area.
While the city of Lille was still a swamp, a small island in a bend of the Deûle, place of Seclin were told attracted the first Christian communities in the region. The coming of Piat, preacher and evangelist Roman but Christian in the third century, had scored a population who offered him a place sanctuary that will be valued later by Saint Eloi in the seventh century. This is the origin of the Church of Seclin, a college that is worth trying, especially for its crypt (IX-X century) which is subject to a sarcophagus very good.
Seclin is a major city on the road from Tournai to Arras, through pilgrimages and trading under the canons of St. Piat college in the ninth century.
The tradition of welcoming the Mélantois is reinforced by the Countess Marguerite of Flanders at the founding in 1246 of the Notre-Dame Hospital and the establishment of a community that Augustine has continued for 8 centuries.
The site of the Notre-Dame Hospital remains largely preserved. Like other prestigious hospitals: a sick room, a chapel. A garden, the old herdsperson, orchard.
The Seclin celebrate every two years: Harengus. Like many cities in North and Belgium Seclin has its bounds. This is a herring, a direct reference to the wishes of the founder Marguerite to see an annual annuity 15,000 herrings delivered from the North Sea for meals Sisters and patients Seclin.
Land wealth, the inhabitants have always known the Mélantois develop the potential of their territory despite the many wars and battles that have gone through. The famous battle of Bouvines 1214 is only a few kilometers away, as Mons en Pévèle, where clashed again in 1304 ost (army) and the Royal Flemish militia.
The vast fertile plain between the Deûle valley and the Brand Valley, was suitable for agriculture, and gave birth to the first modern industries in the region since the early nineteenth century. Seclin was one of the first cities of the North has to appear and operate looms English mechanics, "jennies mules." Flax spinning mills, distilleries, breweries sweets or have given way to a perennial industrial zone economic heart of the metropolis.
Today, the Mélantois is a preserved area on the border of rurality. His fields capturing their drinking water throughout the Lille area. Fifteen minutes from the center of Lille, the townspeople come enjoy a tamed wild. The walks along the canal banks, roads, invite you to stroll. The dream and the journey is guaranteed in the gardens of Mosaic Park.
