Namur (Namen in Dutch, Nameur in Walloon, Namurcum in Latin) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and (since 1986) of the Walloon Region (or Wallonia: compare).
Namur stands at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers and straddles three different regions – Hesbaye to the north, Condroz to the south-east and Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse to the south-west. The language spoken is French.
Namur is the capital of Wallonia, the French-speaking southern part of Belgium. Namur is located 60 km south-east of Belgium’s capital city, Brussels. It is easily accessible by road (E411 highway from Brussels), train or boat (The Meuse coming from France and The Samber flow through Namur where they actually meet)
The Namur municipality includes the old communes of Beez, Belgrade, Saint-Servais, Saint-Marc, Bouge, Champion, Daussoulx, Flawinne, Malonne, Suarlée, Temploux, Vedrin, Boninne, Cognelée, Gelbressée, Marche-les-Dames, Dave, Jambes, Naninne, Wépion, Wierde, Erpent, Lives-sur-Meuse, and Loyers.
Namur is a substantial city and might be too large to discover on foot. The layout of the city is complex and navigation is not easy. Cycling does not appear to be very popular with the locals, perhaps due to the number of cobbled streets. On the other hand, many one-way streets are “except bicycles”, so cyclists enjoy special privileges.
Namur is an important commercial and industrial centre, located on the Walloon industrial backbone, the sillon industriel. It produces machinery, leather goods, metals and porcelain. It is also an important railway junction situated on the north-south line between Brussels and Luxembourg City, and the east-west line between Lille and Liège. River barge traffic passes through the middle of the city along the Meuse.
The biggest tourist attraction is the citadel. It is situated on a hill next to the river Meuse (Dutch: Maas) and open for visiting. On a rainy day, the Museum of Old Namurois Art is also worth a visit. It has recorded guiding in English and a collection of Medieval and Renaissance Christian art. The Archaeological Museum, mostly displaying artifacts from Roman Namur, is less organised and interesting. Much of the old city is beautiful, in a rather French style.
Namur has taken on a new role as the capital of the federal region of Wallonia. Its location at the head of the Ardennes has also made it a popular tourist centre, with a casino located in its southern district on the left bank of the Meuse.
The town’s most prominent sight is the citadel, now demilitarised and open to the public. It plays host to a beer festival at Easter. Namur also has a distinctive 18th century cathedral dedicated to Saint Aubain and a belfry classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
An odd Namurois custom is the annual Combat de l’Echasse d’Or (Fight for the Golden Stilt), held on the third Sunday in September. Two teams, the Mélans and the Avresses, dress in medieval clothes while standing on stilts and do battle in one of the town’s principal squares.
Namur possesses a distinguished university, the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP), also referred to as University of Namur, founded in 1831. Since 1986 Namur has been home to the Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film.
Hire a bicycle and cycle up and through the Citadel. This is better than doing it on foot as the access road is mostly wide and uninteresting. 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.
Sadly, the Salzinnes swimming pool building was deemed to be structurally unsafe and therefore closed down until further notice, and the local swimming pool is now in adjacent Jambes. Namur might also be your gateway to the Ardennes. There is an international train going to Basel, Switzerland.
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