Lessines (; ; ; ) is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

located in the province of Hainaut,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. As of the 2014 census, The municipality's total population was 18,637. The total area is which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 247 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

: Bois-de-Lessines, Deux-Acren, Ghoy, Lessines, Ogy, Ollignies, Papignies, and Wannebecq. Lessines is a municipality of Picardy Wallonia. It is primarily known as the birthplace of the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

painter

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

History

Postal history

The Lessines post office opened before 1830. It used postal code 71 with bars (before 1864), and 214 with points before 1874. Deux-Acren post office opened on 15 May 1866. It used postal code 104 with points before 1874. The Papignies post office opened on 18 February 1880, Ghoy and Ollignies on 25 May 1905, and Ogy on 5 November 1907. Postal codes in 1969:Liste des Numéros Postaux, Administration des Postes, Bruxelles 1969. 7850 Ollignies - 7851 Bois-de-Lessines - 7860 Lessines - 7861 Papignies - 7862 Ogy - 7863 Ghoy - 7870 Deux-Acren Postal codes since at least 1990: 7860 Lessines - 7861 Papignies, Wannebecq (not opened in 1969) - 7862 Ogy - 7863 Ghoy - 7864 Deux-Acren - 7866 Bois-de-Lessines, Ollignies

Culture

The Underwear Museum, created by Jan Bucquoy, is in Lessines; it moved from Brussels to Lessines in 2016. The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose, a tentative World Heritage site, and the Castle of l'Estriverie are also in Lessines.

Gallery

File:Sint-Pieterskerk (Lessen) 11-05-2021 12-36-17.jpg, Church of St. Peter File:Lessines hopiral cloitre.jpg, ''Hôpital Notre-Dame à la Rose'' ("Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose") File:Lessines SI1aJPG.jpg, Quarry of Porphyre File:0 Lessines 050918 (29).jpg, ''Lessinia Vrbs'' from ''Het steden-Boek'' by Joan Blaeu, c. 1649

References

External links

*
Official website
(in French)
Another site
with further information on the city (in French, Dutch, and English)
Another site
with information in French Cities in Wallonia Municipalities of Hainaut (province) {{Hainaut-geo-stub