Namur

Namur's location at the head of the Ardennes has made it a popular tourist centre. The town's most prominent sight is the Citadel of Namur, now demilitarised and open to the public. Namur also has a distinctive 18th-century cathedral dedicated to Saint Aubain and a belfry classified by UNESCO as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France which are listed as a World Heritage Site. It has a casino in its southern district on the left bank of the Meuse.

Understand
Namur is the capital of Wallonia, the French-speaking southern part of Belgium, and is the capital of the province with the same name, Namur. In 2024, the city has about 114,000 inhabitants.

History
Namur has been an important trading settlement since Celtic times, straddling east–west and north–south trade routes across the Ardennes, and the Romans established a permanent presence under direction of Julius Caesar. The settlement flourished during the Middle Ages, when the Merovingians built a castle on the rocky spur overlooking the town at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse.

In 1262, Namur was conquered by the Count of Flanders, and sold to Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1421. After Namur became part of the Spanish Netherlands in the 1640s, the castle was considerably strengthened and grew into the present day Citadel. The fortifications proved inadequate to repel the invasion of Louis XIV of France in 1692, leading to the capturing of the town and its annexation to France. The French occupation force started reinforcing the citadel, but were unable to finish it by the time Willian II of Orange-Nassau conquered the city three years later. Control of the city changed ownership a few times through treaties with the Spanish Netherlands and the Austrian House of Habsburg. In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, transferring control over the city to the Austrians, while reserving the Dutch the right to garrison in the citadel. It was rebuilt under their tenure in the following years.

France invaded the region again in 1794, annexing Namur a second time, until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 incorporated Namur into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands after the death of Napoleon. When Belgium gained independence in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution, Namur once again became an important garrison city for the newly formed government. The citadel was rebuilt yet again in 1887.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, the citadel made Namur a primary military target, and on 21 August of that year the German air force bombarded the town without warning. The Germans, seeking to use the Meuse valley as a route into France, sought to secure the citadel at all costs. Despite the citadel being billed as virtually impregnable, the overwhelming German force captured the citadel after three days of intense fighting, and Namur remained under German control for the rest of the war. The city suffered a similar fate during the Second World War when it ended up at the frontline of the defending Allies against the Axis invasion force. It played a role in the Battle of the Ardennes at the outbreak of the war in 1940, and again in the decisive Battle of the Bulge in 1944. Namur sustained heavy damage during both conflicts.

When federal Belgium broke apart into its three regions, the Walloon Region, the Flanders Region and the Brussels Capital Region, Namur was chosen to be the capital of the Walloon Region and the seat of its executive and parliament. It was finally declared the official capital of Wallonia in 1986, despite it being considerably smaller than Liège or Charleroi.

As a result of its favorable location in the Walloon Region and the Benelux, Namur remains an important industrial and commercial centre in the Walloon Region. Its most important industries are machinery production and metal works, leather goods, and porcelain.



Orientation
The city stands at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers, and straddles three different regions, with Condroz the most well known of them. It is located to the west of Charleroi and south-east of Brussels. It includes also the neighborhood of Beez, known for its limestone quarry with world class calcite crystals, Jambes as a local event center, and Marche-les-Dames where the corpse of King Albert I was found after his climbing accident in 1934.

Climate
The climate of Namur is, as with most of the Sambre and Meuse region, quite humid. Expect rain in any season, but particularly in spring and autumn. Do not count on a sunny morning for a day with outdoor activities, as weather may turn quickly. Having a raincoat or umbrella along is recommended. Temperatures typically range from 5°C to 20°C most of the year, with low peaks down to -15°C in winter, and highs up to 35°C in summer.

By train
Namur is located 60 km south-east of Belgium's capital city, Brussels. It can be reached by train from Brussels (about 50 minutes with an intercity train from Brussels Schuman), on the direct line from Brussels (Midi, Centrale, Nord, Schuman or Luxembourg) to Dinant or Luxembourg. Get off at or. Both stations are operated by the Walloon branch of the Belgian national railway company NMBS, which translates to SNCB in French.

The intercity train Basel-Brussels also stops in Namur.

By boat
Namur is accessible by boat, the Meuse comes from France and the Samber flows through Namur, where the two rivers meet.

By bus
has several connections to Namur. A direct coach service between Paris and Namur takes 5.30 hours for approximately €20. Namur can also be reached from Aachen in about 2 hours for €7. Other connecting cities are Augsburg, Basel, Bern, Besançon, Bonn, Bordeaux, Budapest, Calais, Colmar, Cologne, Dijon, Freiburg, Grenoble, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Koblenz, Lausanne, Le Mans, Lissabon, London, Ludwigshafen, Lyon, Madrid, Milano, Mannheim, Munich, Nantes, Nürnberg, Orléans, Prague, Strasbourg, Stuttgart and Toulouse.

Get around
The layout of the city is complex and navigation is not easy, a detailed map is highly recommended. OpenStreetMap has moderate coverage of Namur.

By foot
Namur is not really a big city and is perfect to discover on foot. With good hiking shoes, light gear and favorable weather it is the most interesting, cheapest and most pleasant option. The roads ascending the citadel are covered by cobblestones, so hiking up is the best budget option. Many areas in the historic center are reserved for pedestrians, and sidewalks are available almost everywhere. Several pedestrian bridges cross the Meuse and Sambre.

By bike
Cycling is gaining popularity among the locals, but is still limited due to the number of cobbled streets. On the other hand, many one-way streets are "except bicycles", so cyclists enjoy special privileges. Bikes can be rented at next to the SNCB railway station. For trips returning to the railway station, the service provided by the SNCB offers train travelers to explore the city, but bikes must be returned to the same station.

By public transport
The public transport network is operated by the Walloon bus company TEC. Tickets can be purchased from kiosks, or directly from bus drivers where they are only marginally more expensive. Do not expect bus drivers to converse fluently in English, so having your destination written out on a piece of paper may help to avoid confusion.

See




Do

 * Hire a bicycle and cycle up and through the Citadel. There is also a network of mountain bike itineraries beginning and ending in Namur, but the signage, which is very good at the beginning, with large coloured arrows painted on the road, suddenly vanishes without explanation.
 * A tour company in nearby Dinant (Les Kayaks Bleus) organises river kayaking trips. It would probably be possible to paddle downstream all the way to Holland and the North Sea.
 * There are public swimming pools in Salzinnes, Saint-Servais and Jambes.

Buy


Namur lacks a proper shopping mall. The inner city supermarkets are one and one (smaller).

Other supermarkets are and  in Jambes and another  and  in Salzinnes among others. Major shopping streets stretch from the Namur train station to Rue de Fer and Rue de l'Ange where you will find normal fashion outlets like H&M, Newlook, Zara, Kim Pie, Cool Cats, O' Appels, Charles Vogele Switzerland, Esprit, JBC, C& A, Women's secret, ICL Paris IV, Di, Camaieu among others.

Go next

 * Brussels — the national capital
 * Charleroi — the Detroit of Wallonia with a rich industrial history
 * Namur might also be your gateway to the Ardennes and Luxembourg.