L o c a t i o n The city of Lille appeared in the Middle Ages. The name Lille comes from Insula, and then Isle , as the city was built on the river Deûle. The County of Flanders, which first appeared in the 9th century, was formed after the Treaties of Verdun (843), with Lille becoming one of its capitals. The city of Lille experienced the rise in power of the Counts of Flanders until the middle of the 14 th century. The last Count of Flanders, had only one daughter, who married the first Duke of Burgundy, in 1369. Together with Dijon and Brussels, the city became one of the capitals of the Burgundy states. The tragic death of the last Duke of Burgundy in 1477 put a sudden end to the splendours of the court. His daughter married Maximilian of Hapsburg. Their grandson was Charles Quint. Lille was thus to share the destiny of the Spanish Low Countries for more than 150 years, becoming part of an empire on which the sun never set. Louis XIV conquered the city in 1667. A treaty permanently confirmed the binding of Lille to France. During the French Revolution, the city was besieged by the Austrians (1792) who were on the way to Paris to free the king. Thanks to its gunners, the city succeeded in fighting off the enemy. In the 19th century, Lille became a major industrial capital; the city expanded rapidly. The surface area of Lille tripled and the number of its inhabitants doubled to 120,000. One century later (in the 1950s), the decline of the textile industry posed serious economic problems for the city, which decided to turn resolutely towards the tertiary sector. The brand new district of the city, Euralille, which was inaugurated in 1994, is the living example of a highly successful conversion. High speed trains now leave for Brussels, London and Paris - placing Lille at the centre of north western Europe. Today, with 220,000 inhabitants, Lille is part of an urban community of 87 towns, with more than 1 million inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in France. Its huge cultural diversity and its dynamism have contributed to the city's nomination of the 2004 "European Capital of Culture".