Mariembourg ( wa, Mariyambour) is a town in the municipality of Couvin 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 depar ...

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 ...

. The town is named after Mary of Hungary, governor of what was then the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary, wife of Maximilian I of Austr ...

, who ordered the construction of a fortress town there in 1542. The fortifications were demolished in 1853, but the former

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

remains. By 1554, it was conquered by French troops, and has throughout the centuries frequently switched hands. The town has a church (built in 1542), a Neo-Gothic former town hall and is served by a railway station.

History

The area around the

Sambre The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Ais ...

and

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

rivers has frequently been the scene of conflicts and battles. During the early 16th century, the development of stronger

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

necessitated a new kind of fortifications. Mary of Hungary, governor of what was then the

, was tasked with strengthening the fortifications along the border with France by her brother, Emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

; the French had laid out a series of fortifications on their side of the border already in 1519. At Mary's initiative, the fortress of Mariembourg was created in 1542–1546 on land which had earlier belonged to the

Floreffe Abbey Floreffe Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery, the second of the order to be founded, situated in Wallonia on the Sambre at Floreffe, about 11 km southwest of Namur, Belgium. History When Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premonstra ...

. It was named Mariembourg in honour of Mary of Hungary, and its main square is today also named after her. The fortress town, which at its completion was considered impenetrable, was besieged by French troops in 1554 and taken only three days later. In the following centuries it was conquered and retaken several times up until 1853, when the fortifications were demolished and replaced by a ring of

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

Description

The fortress town was designed according to a symmetrical plan, with a central square to which eight streets led. It lies in a valley bordered by the rivers and . The central square, formally called ''Place Marie de Hongrie'' but also referred simply to as ''Grand Place'', is the location of the church, built in 1542 in a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

style, and the former town hall from 1884, built in a

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. In the middle of the square is a monumental fountain from 1863. Behind the former town hall is the former

, built during the time of the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

, in 1815. Behind the church there is a monument dedicated to

Léopold Roger Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

, a citizen of Mariembourg who piloted the first flight between Belgium and the Belgian colony

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

in 1925. The town is served by the

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

'' Chemin de fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées'', as well as by regular train services.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Former municipalities of Namur (province) Couvin Populated places established in 1542 16th-century establishments in the Habsburg Netherlands