Havré ( wa, Avrè) is a village of

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

and a district of the municipality of

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

, located in the

province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was a municipality until the

fusion of the Belgian municipalities The fusion of the Belgian municipalities (French: ''fusion des communes'', Dutch: ''fusie van Belgische gemeenten'') was a Belgian political process that rationalized and reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium between 1975 and 1983. In 19 ...

in 1977.

Etymology

The village's name would likely originate from the old name ''Haverec''. However, etymologists are uncertain about the origin and meaning of the name. Some say it would mean ''Country of the

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

'', some other think it would mean ''cleared ground'', and more recently a German line of thought associate it with a German word that could translate to ''wild ash tree''.

Geography

Havré is a village situated at the confines of the

Borinage The Borinage () is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The name derives from the coal mines of the region, ''bores'' meaning mineshafts. In French the inhabitants of the Borinage are called Borains. The provincial capital ...

and the Centre region. It is traversed by the Canal du Centre and the

Haine The Haine (, ; ; ; pcd, Héne; wa, Hinne) is a river in southern Belgium ( Hainaut) and northern France (Nord), right tributary of the river Scheldt. The Haine gave its name to the County of Hainaut, and the present province of Hainaut. Its s ...

river. It is situated next to Boussoit, Bray,

Obourg Obourg ( wa, Obour) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It was a municipality until the fusion of the Belgian municipalities in 1977. History It is the site of the f ...

, Saint-Symphorien,

Ville-sur-Haine Ville-sur-Haine ( wa, Vile-so-Inne) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Le Rœulx, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. George Lawrence Price Canadian private George Lawrence Price, known as the last soldi ...

, and Villers-Saint-Ghislain.

Economy

Havré was a wealthy municipality from the 19th century to 1950, with forests, salt refinery, tannery, tabac fabric, gunpowder factory, glass factory, phosphate quarry, but mostly thanks to coal mines which employed more than a thousand people. In 1960, after the last coal mine closed, the village became a commuter-town for people mainly working in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, and

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

. In the

tertiary sector of the economy The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, Havré counts several bank branches and shops, including small and medium supermarkets. More over, there are numerous retail and handicraft shops. Sport is also well developed with infrastructure for tennis, football, and basketball.

Population

* 1837 : 1869 inhabitants * 1846 : 2043 inhabitants * 1860 : 1155 inhabitants * 1870 : 1915 inhabitants * 1910 : 3689 inhabitants * 1929 : 3713 inhabitants * 1961 : 5225 inhabitants * 1976 : 5390 inhabitants * 1990 : 5500 inhabitants * 2001 : 5930 inhabitants * 2004 : 5856 inhabitants * 2011 : 6157 inhabitants

Places

* Havré Castle * Train station * Place d’Havré (town square) * Church Saint-Martin (on the town square) * Priory of Saint-Antoine-in-Barbefosse * Chapel of Bon-Vouloir (Good-will)

Gallery

Image:Havré JPG01.jpg, Havré, Old Castle. Image:Havré JPG03.jpg, Havré, Chapel of "Bon Vouloir" (17th century). Image:Havré JPG05.jpg, Havré, Old water mill (19th century). Image:Havré 5604.JPG, Havré, Old

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. Image:0 Havré - Terril N° 1 - (2).JPG, Terril N°1 ( spoil tip Nr 1). Walking path in Bois d'Havré (DSC 1344).jpg, Bois d'Havré (forest)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Havre Sub-municipalities of Mons Former municipalities of Hainaut (province)