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Dinant | |
|---|---|
 The citadel, the collegiate church and the Meuse | |
 Flag .svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Dinant in Namur | |
 Interactive map of Dinant | |
  Dinant Location in Belgium | |
| Coordinates:50°16′N04°55′E / 50.267°N 4.917°E /50.267; 4.917 | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Community | French Community |
| Region | Wallonia |
| Province | Namur |
| Arrondissement | Dinant |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Thierry Bodlet (MR, ID!) |
| • Governing party | ID! - Dinant - Dinant Autrement |
| Area | |
• Total | 100.05 km2 (38.63 sq mi) |
| Population (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 13,544 |
| • Density | 135.37/km2 (350.61/sq mi) |
| Postal codes | 5500, 5501, 5502, 5503, 5504 |
| NIS code | 91034 |
| Area codes | 082 |
| Website | www.dinant.be |
Dinant (French pronunciation:[dinɑ̃]ⓘ) is acity andmunicipality ofWallonia located in theprovince of Namur,Belgium. On the shores of riverMeuse, in theArdennes, it lies 90 kilometres (56 mi) south-east ofBrussels, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east ofCharleroi and 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the city ofNamur. Dinant is situated 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the border withFrance.
The municipality consists of the followingdistricts:Anseremme,Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, Dinant, Dréhance, Falmagne, Falmignoul, Foy-Notre-Dame, Furfooz, Lisogne, Sorinnes and Thynes.
Dinant is positioned in the UpperMeuse valley, at a point where the river cuts deeply into the westernCondroz plateau. Sited in a steep-sided valley, between the rock face and the river, the original settlement had little space in which to grow away from the river, and it therefore expanded into a long, thin town, on a north–south axis, along the river shore. During the 19th century, the formerÎle des Batteurs (Drummers' Island) to the south was attached directly to the town when a branch of the Meuse was filled in.
Dinant has been enriched by the agricultural opportunities presented by the fertile land on the plateau that overlooks it. Within the town,brassware production is a traditional craft that has benefited from the presence of the broad and, at this point, easily navigable river which has facilitated easy delivery of the raw materials and ready distribution of the resulting products of the artisans' workshops. Another traditional source of wealth is provided by thelimestone cliffs overlooking the town, which supported a high-end quarrying industry, producingblack marble andbluestone, and whose distribution also benefited from the proximity of the relatively wide and deep navigable river.
| Climate data for Dinant (1991−2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) | 6.6 (43.9) | 10.6 (51.1) | 14.7 (58.5) | 18.3 (64.9) | 21.3 (70.3) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.2 (73.8) | 19.4 (66.9) | 14.6 (58.3) | 9.3 (48.7) | 5.9 (42.6) | 14.4 (57.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) | 2.9 (37.2) | 5.8 (42.4) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.6 (54.7) | 15.7 (60.3) | 17.8 (64.0) | 17.4 (63.3) | 13.9 (57.0) | 10.2 (50.4) | 6.0 (42.8) | 3.2 (37.8) | 9.8 (49.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) | −0.8 (30.6) | 1.0 (33.8) | 3.0 (37.4) | 6.9 (44.4) | 10.2 (50.4) | 12.2 (54.0) | 11.7 (53.1) | 8.5 (47.3) | 5.9 (42.6) | 2.6 (36.7) | 0.4 (32.7) | 5.1 (41.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 78.6 (3.09) | 70.3 (2.77) | 65.2 (2.57) | 50.6 (1.99) | 69.7 (2.74) | 70.5 (2.78) | 76.3 (3.00) | 82.3 (3.24) | 61.6 (2.43) | 69.8 (2.75) | 72.4 (2.85) | 94.0 (3.70) | 861.3 (33.91) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.3 | 12.2 | 11.7 | 9.5 | 10.8 | 10.7 | 10.4 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 11.2 | 12.6 | 14.6 | 137.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 55 | 72 | 127 | 178 | 202 | 209 | 216 | 206 | 159 | 111 | 61 | 45 | 1,642 |
| Source:Royal Meteorological Institute[2] | |||||||||||||
The name Dinant comes from theCelticDivo-Nanto, meaning "Sacred Valley" or "Divine Valley"; it can also be translated as "Celestial Gorge" or "Luminous Gorge" (as in modernWelshNant Dwyfol).
The remains of a prehistoric woman, known as the 'Margaux Woman', were found near Dinant in 1988. She is estimated to have been buried in the mid-ninth millenium B.C (part of theMesolithic period).[3]
The Dinant area was already populated inNeolithic,Celtic, andRoman times. The first mention of Dinant as a settlement dates from the 7th century, when Perpète of Maastricht,Bishop of Tongeren, moved his principal residence fromMaastricht to Dinant and founded the church of Saint Vincent.
Dinant was a part of theFrankish kingdom ofMiddle Francia from its creation in 843 by theTreaty of Verdun until its dissolution in 855 with theTreaty of Prüm. Like most of Middle Francia, Dinant then became part of the newly formedKingdom of Lotharingia within theCarolingian Empire. The Kingdom of Lotharingia was abolished in 869–870 and was divided by theTreaty of Meerssen in 870. With this, Dinant passed toWest Francia, ruled by kingCharles the Bald. With this passing of territory, he gave part of Dinant to be administered by theCount of Namur, with the rest as a part of theBishopric of Tongeren, which was by that time based inLiège. West Francia eventually lost significant territory and no longer contained Dinantby the 10th century.
In the 11th century, the emperorHenry IV granted several rights over Dinant to thePrince-Bishopric of Liège, including market and justice rights. From that time on, the city became one of the 23 ‘‘bonnes villes’’ (or principal cities) of the Prince-Bishopric. The first stone bridge on theMeuse and major repair to the castle, which had been built earlier, also date from the end of the 11th century. Throughout this period, and until the end of the 18th century, Dinant shared its history with its overlord Liège, sometimes rising in revolt against it, sometimes partaking in its victories and defeats, mostly against the neighbouring County of Namur.
Its strategic location on theMeuse exposed Dinant to battle and pillage, not always by avowed enemies: in 1466,Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, uncle ofLouis de Bourbon, Prince-Bishop of Liège, and Philip’s sonCharles the Bold punished an uprising in Dinant during theLiège Wars, by casting 800burghers into the Meuse and setting fire to the city. The city's economic rival was Bouvignes, downriver on the opposite shore of the Meuse.
Late Medieval Dinant and Bouvignes specialised in metalwork, producing finely cast and finished objects in a silvery brass alloy, calleddinanderie and supplyingaquamaniles, candlesticks,patens and other altar furniture throughout the Meuse valley (giving these objects their cautious designation "Mosan"), the Rhineland and beyond.
Henri Pirenne gained his doctorate in 1883 with a thesis on medieval Dinant.
In the 16th- and 17th-century wars betweenFrance andSpain, Dinant suffered destruction, famine, and epidemics, despite its neutrality. In 1675, the French army under MarshalFrançois de Créquy occupied the city. Dinant was briefly taken by theAustrians at the end of the 18th century. The wholeBishopric of Liège was ceded to France in 1795. Thedinanderies fell out of fashion and the economy of the city now rested on leather tanning and the manufacture of playing cards. The famouscouques de Dinant also appeared at that time.
The city suffered devastation again at the beginning of theFirst World War. On 15 August 1914, French and German troops fought for the town in theBattle of Dinant; among the wounded was Lieut.Charles de Gaulle. On 23 August, 674 inhabitants were summarily executed bySaxon troops of theGerman Army – the largest massacre committed by the Germans in 1914. Within a month, some five thousand Belgian and French civilians were killed by the Germans at numerous similar occasions.[4]
DuringWorld War II, the city was again captured by German forces during theinvasion of Belgium. German forces ofErwin Rommel's7th Panzer Division took the town on 13 May 1940, after crossing theRiver Meuse and defeating the French forces defending the town.
.JPG)
Dinant's railway station is on the left bank of the river. There is hourly train service to Brussels, about a 90-minute ride.[6]
Dinant hosts theSaint-Vincent andSaint-Anne sites (Centre Hospitalier de Dinant) of theCHU UCLouvain Namur university hospital, the provinces' largest employer and serving asteaching hospital for theUniversity of Louvain.
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Philippines:Cagayan de Oro
England:Hoddesdon, England
Greece:Chios
France:Dinan France:Disneyland Paris[7]... we have confirmed the official wartime estimates that some 6,500 civilians were killed in Belgium and France from August to October 1914.
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Dinant travel guide from WikivoyageMunicipalities in theprovince of Namur,Wallonia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dinant |  | |
| Namur | ||
| Philippeville | ||
Bold indicatescities | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
