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Liege, the cultural center of the Walloon Region

Thursday, 8 December 2011 - 02:32 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.

The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, near Belgium’s eastern borders with the Netherlands and Germany, where the Meuse meets the Ourthe. It is in the former sillon industriel, the industrial backbone of Wallonia. The Liège municipality includes the former communes of Angleur, Bressoux, Chênée, Glain, Grivegnée, Jupille-sur-Meuse, Rocourt, and Wandre.

The city is the principal economic and cultural centre of Wallonia. Liège is, with 194,054 inhabitants as of 1 May 2009, the second most populous city in Wallonia, after Charleroi. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,879 km2 and has a total population of 749,110 as of 1 January 2008. This includes a total of 52 municipalities, a.o. Herstal and Seraing, and ranks as the third most populous in Belgium, after Brussels and Antwerp.

The city is well known for its very crowded folk festivals. The 15 August festival (“Le 15 août”) is maybe the best known. The population gathers in a quarter named Outre-Meuse with plenty of tiny pedestrian streets and old yards. Many people come to see the procession but also to drink alcohol and beer, eat cabbage, sausages or pancakes or simply enjoy the atmosphere until the early hours. The Saint Nicholas festival around the 6 December is organized by and for the students of the University; for 24 hours, the students (wearing very dirty lab-coats) are allowed to beg for money for drinking.

Liège is renowned for its significant nightlife. Within the pedestrian zone, there is an area (a 100 × 100 m (328.08 ft × 328.08 ft) square called Le Carré) with many lively pubs which are reputed to remain open until the last customer leaves (typically around 6 am). Another active area is the Place du Marché.

The “Batte” market is where most locals visit on Sundays. The outdoor market goes along the Meuse River and also attracts many visitors to Liège. The market typically runs from early morning to 2 o’clock in the afternoon every weekend year long. Produce, clothing, and snack vendors are the main concentration of the market.

The main sights are

• The 16th century palace of the Prince-Bishops of Liège is built on the Place St Lambert, where the old St. Lambert’s Cathedral used to stand before the French Revolution. An archeological display, the Archeoforum, can be visited under the Place St Lambert.
• The perron on the nearby Place du Marché was once the symbol of justice in the Prince-Bishopric and is now the symbol of the city. It stands in front of the 17th century city hall.
• The present Liège Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Paul, contains a treasury and Saint Lambert’s tomb. It is one of the original seven collegiate churches, which include the German-Romanesque St Bartholomew’s Church (Saint Barthélémy) and the church of St Martin.
• The church of Saint-James (Saint-Jacques) is probably the most beautiful medieval church in Liège. It is built in the so-called Flamboyant-Gothic style, while the porch is early Renaissance. The statues are by Liège sculptor Jean DelCour. Saint-Jacques also contains 29 spectacular 14th century misericords.
• The main museums in Liège are: MAMAC (Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art), Museum of Walloon Life, and Museum of Walloon Art & Religious Art (Mosan art). The Curtius Museum is an elegantly furnished mansion from the 17th century along the Meuse River, due to reopen in March 2009 as the expanded Grand Curtius museum housing the collections of the archaeology, decorative arts, religious art and Mosan art museums.
• Other sites of interest include the historical city centre (the Carré), the Hors-Château area, the Outremeuse area, the parks and boulevards along the Meuse river, the Citadel, the 400 steps stairway “Montagne de Bueren”, leading from Hors-Château to the Citadel, ‘Mediacite’ shopping mall designed by Ron Arad Architects and the Liège-Guillemins train station designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Read more on City of Liège, Province Liège, visitbelgium.com – Liège, Liège Harbour, Liège Airport, Liège University und Wikipedia Lüttich. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organisations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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