Namur (
Dutch: ,
Nameur in
Walloon) is a
city and
municipality in
Wallonia, in southern
Belgium. It is both the capital of the
province of
Namur and (since 1986) of
Wallonia.
Namur stands at the confluence of the
Sambre and
Meuse rivers and straddles three different regions - Hesbaye to the north, Condroz to the south-east and Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse to the south-west. The language spoken is
French.
The Namur
municipality includes the old
communes of Beez,
Belgrade,
Saint-Servais,
Saint-Marc,
Bouge,
Champion,
Daussoulx,
Flawinne,
Malonne,
Suarlée,
Temploux,
Vedrin,
Boninne,
Cognelée,
Gelbressée,
Marche-les-Dames,
Dave,
Jambes,
Naninne,
Wépion,
Wierde,
Erpent,
Lives-sur-Meuse, and
Loyers.
History
Namur, the
Meuse, the Jambes bridge and the citadel.
The town began as an important trading settlement in
Celtic times, straddling east-west and north-south trade routes across the
Ardennes. The
Romans, too, established a presence after
Julius Caesar defeated the local
Aduatuci tribe.
Namur came to prominence during the early
Middle Ages when the
Merovingians built a
castle or citadel on the rocky spur overlooking the town at the confluence of the two rivers. In the 10th century it became a
county in its own right. The town developed somewhat unevenly, as the counts of Namur could only build on the north bank of the Meuse - the south bank was owned by the
bishops of Liège and developed more slowly into the town of Jambes (now effectively a suburb of Namur). In 1262, Namur fell into the hands of the
Count of Flanders, and was purchased by Duke
Philip the Good of
Burgundy in 1421.
After Namur became part of the
Spanish Netherlands in the 1640s, its citadel was considerably strengthened. The King
Louis XIV of France invaded in 1692, capturing the town and annexing it to France. His renowned military engineer
Vauban rebuilt the citadel.
French control was short-lived, as
William III of Orange-Nassau captured Namur only three years later in 1695 during the
War of the Grand Alliance. Under the
Barrier Treaty of 1709, the Dutch gained the right to garrison Namur, although the subsequent
Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 gave control of the formerly
Spanish Netherlands to the
Austrian
House of Habsburg. Thus, although the Austrians ruled the town, the citadel was controlled by the Dutch. It was rebuilt again under their tenure.
France invaded the region again in 1794, during the
French Revolutionary Wars, and again annexed Namur, imposing a repressive regime. After the defeat of
Napoleon in 1815, the
Congress of Vienna incorporated what is now Belgium into the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Belgium broke away from the Netherlands in 1830 following the
Belgian Revolution, and Namur continued to be a major garrison town under the new government. The citadel was rebuilt yet again in 1887.
Namur was a major target of the
German invasion of Belgium in 1914, which sought to use the Meuse valley as a route into France. Despite being billed as virtually impregnable, the citadel fell after only three days' fighting and the town was occupied by the Germans for the rest of the war. Namur fared little better in
World War II; it was in the front lines of both the Battle of the Ardennes in 1940 and the
Battle of the Bulge in 1944. The town suffered heavy damage in both wars.
Namur continued to host the
Belgian Army's
paratroopers until their departure in 1977.
Economy
Namur is an important commercial and industrial centre, located on the Walloon industrial backbone, the
Sambre and Meuse valley. It produces machinery, leather goods, metals and porcelain. It is also an important railway junction situated on the north-south line between
Brussels and
Luxembourg City, and the east-west line between
Lille and
Liège. River
barge traffic passes through the middle of the city along the Meuse.
Culture and sights
Namur, the St Aubin's Cathedral.
Namur has taken on a new role as the capital of the federal region of Wallonia. Its location at the head of the Ardennes has also made it a popular tourist centre, with a
casino located in its southern district on the left bank of the Meuse.
The town's most prominent sight is the citadel, now demilitarised and open to the public. It plays host to a
beer festival at
Easter. Namur also has a distinctive 18th century
cathedral dedicated to Saint Aubain and a
belfry classified by
UNESCO as a
World Heritage Site.
thumb|right|The belfry.|150pxAn odd Namurois custom is the annual Combat de l'Échasse d'Or (
Fight for the Golden Stilt), held on the third Sunday in September. Two teams, the Mélans and the Avresses, dress in medieval clothes while standing on stilts and do battle in one of the town's principal squares.
Namur possesses a distinguished
university, the
Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP), also referred to as University of Namur, founded in 1831.
Since 1986 Namur has been home to the Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film.
Notable inhabitants
- Henri Michaux (1899-1984), poet, writer and painter born in Namur
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
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