Viroinval (; wa, Virwinvå) is a
municipality of
Wallonia located in the
province of Namur
Namur (; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French depart ...
,
Belgium.
On January 1, 2006, Viroinval had a total population of 5,680. The total area is 120.90 km
2 which gives a
population density of 47 inhabitants per km
2.
The municipality consists of the following districts:
Dourbes,
Mazée,
Le Mesnil, Nismes,
Oignies-en-Thiérache,
Olloy-sur-Viroin,
Treignes,
Vierves-sur-Viroin
Vierves-sur-Viroin ( wa, Viêpe) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Viroinval, located in the province of Namur, Belgium.
The village surrounds the castle, which was erected during the Middle Ages. Its present appearan ...
.
The name Viroinval, ''Viroin (River) Valley'', was chosen for the municipality that was formed by fusing eight villages, in 1977.
Attractions
*From 1995 to 2004, Viroinval was the location of the
geographical centre of the European Union
The location of the geographical centre of Europe depends on the definition of the borders of Europe, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Europe, and on the method of calculating the final result. Thus, sev ...
, at coordinates in Oignies-en-Thiérache, and a monument there records that finding. On May 1, 2004, the EU expanded from fifteen states to twenty-five, and the geographical centre of the union moved eastwards to the village of
Kleinmaischeid
Kleinmaischeid is a municipality in the Neuwied (district), district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Between 1 May 2004 and 31 December 2006, it was the centre point of the European Union. South of Kleinmaischeid lies Großmaischei ...
,
Rhineland-Palatinate,
Germany. On 1 January 2007 it shifted even further south-eastwards.
*The tourist steam train line Mariembourg–Treignes has most of its stations in villages of Viroinval: Nismes, Olloy-sur-Viroin, Vierves-sur-Viroin, and Treignes.
The latter village has a relevant museum.
References
External links
Official Website of the municipality
Municipalities of Namur (province)
{{Namur-geo-stub