Thuin

Thuin is built on a steep spur above the Sambre and is divided sharply between the upper town on the ridge and the boatmen's quarter along the river below. The upper town has a belfry of 1639, all that remains of the collegiate church, listed among the Belgian belfries and climbable, and the ramparts of the old fortification. Below the ridge, on the slope between the two, are the hanging gardens: terraced allotments cut into the hillside and held by dry stone walls, worked for centuries and still cultivated, running in steps down toward the river. The Ville Basse along the water was the quarter of the Sambre boatmen, with narrow houses and a preserved tramway museum operating heritage trams up the valley.

History

The area was a burial place in Gallo-Roman times, and the name Thudinium Castellum, a Roman fort, appears in a 9th-century list of Lobbes Abbey, which held the village and with it joined the bishopric of Liège in 888; Prince-Bishop Notger walled the town a century later, making it the westernmost of the 23 good towns of the bishopric. Caught between Hainaut and Liège, it was besieged many times despite new walls of the 12th and 15th centuries, resisted the Prince of Condé in 1654, a deliverance credited to Saint Roch and still marked by his procession, and was held by the troops of Louis XIV from 1675 to 1678; several 17th-century buildings, the belfry among them, survive in the upper town (Wikipedia, Thuin).

The main sights

• The hanging gardens - terraced allotments in dry stone down the slope.
• The 1639 belfry - the surviving tower of the collegiate church, climbable.
• The boatmen's quarter - narrow houses along the Sambre below.
• Heritage trams - the preserved tramway running up the valley.

When to go

April to October for the gardens and the trams, which run seasonally. Half a day. The belfry has limited opening. Weekends are when the tramway operates most services.

What to expect

The gardens are private allotments seen from the paths, not a public garden. The tramway runs only on certain days in season. The climb between the lower and upper town is steep. Interpretation is in French.

Nearby

Aulne Abbey is downstream; Charleroi lies north-east.

Key facts