Celles

Celles is a village of grey limestone houses and slate roofs in the Condroz, designated one of the most beautiful villages of Wallonia, and its centre is the collegiate church of Saint Hadelin, a substantially intact eleventh-century Romanesque building with a heavy fortified west tower, a barrel-vaulted nave, a crypt holding a Merovingian sarcophagus and later Mosan carving. The village kept its scale because it never grew. A German tank stands at the entrance to the village, stopped there in December 1944 and left as a marker of how far the advance reached. Nearby is the castle of Veves on its rock, and the walking and cycling routes of the Lesse valley run close.

What you actually see

• The eleventh-century church - Romanesque with a fortified west tower.
• The crypt and sarcophagus - Merovingian burial beneath the choir.
• Limestone and slate village - the Condroz building around the church.
• The tank at the village entrance - left where it stopped in 1944.

When to go

April to October. Two hours. The church is open daily outside services. Weekends bring visitors to the village restaurants. Combine with Veves castle, which is very close.

Honest expectations

It is very small and two hours is enough. Parking is limited and the village lanes are narrow. Restaurants are aimed at day trippers. Interpretation in the church is limited and in French.

Nearby

Chateau de Veves is a short drive; Dinant lies east on the Meuse.