Namur, Belgium

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shipping and road transport. Industries include glass, porcelain, paper and steel factories which are principally located in the suburb of Jambes. Because of its strategic position Namur has had to suffer a number of sieges in the course of its history. During these, large parts of the town were destroyed again and again, so that a coherent and attractive townscape no longer exists. However, the citadel is well worth a visit on account of its excellent museums.

The hill on which stands the citadel of Namur was already of military importance in Roman times and was fortified at a very early date. Many historians presume that this was the seat of the Germanic Aduatuker, of whom Caesar speaks in the "Gallic Wars". Below the hill a settlement arose on the banks of the Sambre which from the 10th C. was the chief place of the county. This was seized by Burgundy in 1421 and in 1559 was raised to the status of a bishopric. From the 15th C. the history of Namur consists of a sequence of sieges and destruction in war. The most famous siege occurred in 1692 under Louis XIV and Vauban and ended with the entry of the French; in 1695, however, they had to give way to William III of Orange. In 1746 the French were once again in Namur but were driven out two years later by the Austrians, who for their part had to withdraw in 1792 in the face of the French revolutionaries who won back the city in the same year and two years later surrendered it to the Austrians. The latter were succeeded in 1816 by the Netherlanders who extended the citadel. In the Kingdom of Belgium the advance forts which had been erected in 1889-1902 were strong points of the Belgian line from the Meuse which, however, was taken in 1914 and again in 1940 by German troops.