Landmarks in Liège Editor: Paul Muljadi
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Landmarks in Liège Editor: Paul Muljadi PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit. See http://code.pediapress.com/ for more information. PDF generated at: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:08:05 UTC Contents Articles Liège 1 Cointe Observatory 10 Collège en Isle (Liège) 11 Collège Saint-Servais (Liège) 12 Cornillon Abbey 12 Curtius Museum 13 Liège Airport 14 Liège Cathedral 18 Liège Science Park 19 Liège-Guillemins railway station 20 Meuse (river) 24 Pont de Wandre 30 Prince-Bishops' Palace (Liège) 31 Royal Conservatory of Liège 33 St Bartholomew's Church, Liège 34 St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liège 35 University of Liège 38 References Article Sources and Contributors 42 Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 43 Article Licenses License 45 Liège 1 Liège Liège Flag Coat of arms Liège Location in Belgium Coordinates: 50°38′N 05°34′E Country Belgium Region Wallonia Community French Community Province Liège Arrondissement Liège Government • Mayor Willy Demeyer (PS) • Governing party/ies PS – cdH Area • Total 69.39 km2 (26.8 sq mi) Liège 2 [1] Population (1 January 2010) • Total 192504 • Density 2774.2/km2 (7185.2/sq mi) Demographics • Foreigners 16.05% (7 January 2005) Postal codes 4000–4032 Area codes 04 [2] Website www.liege.be Liège (French pronunciation: [ljɛːʒ]; Dutch: Luik, Dutch pronunciation: [lœyk] ( listen); Walloon: Lidje; German: Lüttich; Latin: Leodium; Luxembourgish: Leck; until 17 September 1946[3] [4] [5] the city's name was written Liége, with the acute accent instead of a grave accent) is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, near Belgium's eastern borders with the Netherlands and Germany, where the Meuse meets the Ourthe. It is in the former sillon industriel, the industrial backbone of Wallonia. The Liège municipality includes the former communes of Angleur, Bressoux, Chênée, Glain, Grivegnée, Jupille-sur-Meuse, Rocourt, and Wandre. The city is the principal economic and cultural centre of Wallonia. Liège is, with 194,054 inhabitants as of 1 May 2009, the second most populous city in Wallonia, after Charleroi.[6] The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,879 km2 and has a total population of 749,110 as of 1 January 2008.[6] [7] This includes a total of 52 municipalities, a.o. Herstal and Seraing, and ranks as the third most populous in Belgium, after Brussels and Antwerp.[7] Etymology Liège's Latin form, Leodium, has the Germanic word leod, meaning "people", as its origin. Compare archaic Dutch lui(den), lieden ("people"), Old English lēod (English lede "people"), Modern German Leute ("people"), Norwegian dialectal lyd ("people"). Also related are Russian люди (ljúdi) and Hindi loagh, both meaning "people". History Early Middle Ages Although settlements already existed in Roman times, the first references to Liège are from 558, when it was known as Vicus Leudicus. Around 705, Saint Lambert of Maastricht is credited with completing the Christianization of the region, indicating that up to the early 8th-century the religious practices of antiquity had survived in some form. Christian conversion may still not have been quite universal, since Lambert was murdered in Liège and thereafter regarded as a martyr Liège in 1650 for his faith. To enshrine St. Lambert's relics, his Liège 3 successor, Hubertus (later to become St. Hubert), built a basilica near the bishop's residence which became the true nucleus of the city. A few centuries later, the city became the capital of a prince-bishopric, which lasted from 985 till 1794. The first prince-bishop, Notger, transformed the city into a major intellectual and ecclesiastical centre, which maintained its cultural importance during the Middle Ages. Pope Clement VI recruited several musicians from Liège to perform in the Papal court at Avignon, thereby sanctioning the practice of polyphony in the religious realm. The city was renowned for its many churches, the oldest of which, St Martin's, dates from 682. Although nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire, in practice it possessed a large degree of independence. Late Middle Ages and Renaissance The strategic position of Liège has made it a frequent target of armies and insurgencies over the centuries. It was fortified early on with a castle on the steep hill that overlooks the city's western side. In 1345, the citizens of Liège rebelled against Prince-Bishop Engelbert III de la Marck, their ruler at the time, and defeated him in battle near the city. Shortly after, a unique political system formed in Liège, whereby the city's 32 guilds shared sole political control of the municipal government. Each person on the register of each guild was eligible to participate, and each guild's voice was equal, making it the most democratic system that the Low Countries had ever known. The system spread to Utrecht, and left a democratic spirit in Liège that survived the Middle Ages.[8] After a rebellion against rule from Burgundy that figured prominently in the plot of Sir Walter Scott's 1823 novel Quentin Durward, King Louis XI of France and Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy captured and largely destroyed the city in 1468, after a bitter siege which was ended with a successful surprise attack. Liège was technically still part of the Holy Roman Empire. After 1477, the city came under the rule of the Habsburgs and, after 1555, under Spanish sovereignty, although its immediate rule remained in the hands of its prince-bishops. The reign of Erard de la Marck (1506–1538) coincides with the Renaissance Liégeoise. During the Counter-Reformation, the diocese of Liège was split and progressively lost its role as a regional power. In the 17th century the prince-bishops came from the Bavarian family Wittelsbach. They ruled over Cologne and other bishoprics in the northwest of the Holy Roman Empire as well. 18th century to World War I The Duke of Marlborough captured the city from the Bavarian prince-bishop and his French allies in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. In the middle of the eighteenth century the ideas of the French encyclopedists began to be received at Liège; Bishop de Velbruck (1772–84), encouraged their propagation and thus prepared the way for the Revolution Liégeoise, which burst upon the episcopal city on 18 August 1789. In the course of the 1794 campaigns of Liège in 1649 the French Revolution, the French army took the city and imposed strongly anticlerical regime, destroying the cathedral of Saint Lambert. The overthrow of the prince-bishopric was confirmed in 1801 by the Concordat co-signed by Napoléon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. France lost the city in 1815 when the Congress of Vienna awarded it to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Dutch rule lasted only until 1830, when the Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium which incorporated Liège. After this, Liège developed rapidly into a major industrial city which became one of continental Europe's first large-scale steel making centres. The Walloon Jacquerie of 1886 saw a large-scale working class revolt.[9] No less than 6,000 regular troops were called into the city to quell the unrest,[10] while strike spread through the whole sillon industriel. Liège 4 Liège's fortifications were redesigned by Henri Alexis Brialmont in the 1880s and a chain of twelve forts was constructed around the city to provide defence in depth. This presented a major obstacle to Germany's army in 1914, whose Schlieffen Plan relied on being able to quickly pass through the Meuse valley and the Ardennes en route to France. The German invasion on August 5, 1914 soon reached Liège, which was defended by 30,000 troops under General Gérard Leman (see Battle of Liège). The forts initially held off an attacking force of about 100,000 men but were Centre of Liège in 1770 pulverised into submission by a five-day bombardment by the Germans' 42 cm Big Bertha howitzers. Due to faulty planning of the protection of the underground defense tunnels beneath the main citadel, one direct artillery hit caused a huge explosion, which eventually led to the surrender of the Belgian forces. The Belgian resistance was shorter than had been intended, but the twelve days of delay caused by the siege nonetheless contributed to the eventual failure of the German invasion of France. The city was subsequently occupied by the Germans until the end of the war. Liège received the Légion d'Honneur for its resistance in 1914. World War II to the present The Germans returned in 1940, this time taking the forts in only three days. Most Jews were saved, with the help of the sympathising population, as many Jewish children and refugees were hidden in the numerous monasteries. The German occupiers were expelled by the Allies of World War II in September 1944 but Liège was subsequently subjected to intense aerial bombardment, with more than 1,500 V1 and V2 missiles landing in the city between its liberation and the end of the war. After the war ended, the Royal Question came to the fore, since many saw king Leopold III as collaborating with the Germans during the war. In July 1950, André Renard, leader of the Liégeois FGTB launched the General strike against Leopold III of Belgium and "seized control over the city of Liège".[11] The strike ultimately led to Leopold's abdication. Liège began to suffer from a relative decline of its industry, particularly the coal industry, and later the steel industry, producing high levels of unemployment and stoking social tension.