The Capital of Wallonia

Wallonia is just another word for the southern half of Belgium - where they speak French and only French.

We visited the city of Namur in Wallonia last weekend.

As we were walking around the old citadel, a guy pulled up in a car and started speaking - French - very fast.  He was obviously an employee of the now-tourist attraction that is the citadel and surroundings.  We listened for a moment before we could interrupt to tell him we only spoke English.

Using a few hand gestures, he continued to speak French - and only French - because that's all they speak in Wallonia - as if somehow we were going to suddenly become fluent in French.  We didn't continue to tell him we only spoke English because . . . well, see line above.  We surmised he was trying to tell us he was about to lock the gate (because by some miracle Jim heard the word ferme' - one of the three French words we know) and we should probably go get our car.  So we did.

Ferme' (accent mark) = closed
Ferme (no accent mark) = farm

Namur is the capital of the Wallonian region.

The Meuse and Sambra rivers come together in Namur.  This made it an important city for trade with the Celts and later the Romans - all BC -so making it a very old city.  It really became important when the citadel was built.  The first stone walls date back to the early Middle Ages (5th century).

As we drove up and up the winding road to the citadel, this complex appears.

This huge structure was designed by architect George Hobe' and completed in 1910, before WWI. Leopold II had reduced the military in 1891 which gave way for other projects at the citadel.  The construction of this stadium and theatre was an effort to promote tourism. 

Here's a close up of it.  Those words mean something like patriotic games in Latin.

You can see the Grand Hotel (now the Chateau de Namur) in the distance which was part of the bigger plan for tourism in this area.

This is a part of the Citadel of Namur (a citadel is a fortress typically used for protecting a city).

The entire complex is big and sprawling.  We didn't stay too long because it was cold and windy.  Yes, cold.  In July.

Namur, Belgium