Culture and Sights
Namur has taken on a new role as the capital of the federal region of Wallonia. Its location at the head of the Ardennes has also made it a popular tourist centre, with a casino located in its southern district on the left bank of the Meuse.
The town's most prominent sight is the citadel, now demilitarised and open to the public. It plays host to a beer festival at Easter. Namur also has a distinctive 18th century cathedral dedicated to Saint Aubain and a belfry classified by UNESCO as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France which are listed as a World Heritage Site.
The Couvent des Soeurs de Notre-Dame contains masterpieces of Mosan art by Hugo d'Oignies. Elsewhere there is an archeological museum and a museum dedicated to Félicien Rops.
An odd Namurois custom is the annual Combat de l'Échasse d'Or (Fight for the Golden Stilt), held on the third Sunday in September. Two teams, the Mélans and the Avresses, dress in medieval clothes while standing on stilts and do battle in one of the town's principal squares.
Namur possesses a distinguished university, the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP), also referred to as University of Namur, founded in 1831.
Since 1986 Namur has been home to the Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film. A jazz (Nam'in'Jazz) and a rock (Verdur Rock) festivals also take place yearly in Namur.
The local football team is named Union Royale Namur.
The local baseball team is named Namur Angels.
Sights near Namur include Maredsous Abbey, Floreffe Abbey, and Annevoie Castle with its surrounding Jardins d'Annevoie.
Read more about this topic: Namur (city)
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“Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting the progress of the arts and the sciences and a flourishing culture in our land.”
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
“We may have civilized bodies and yet barbarous souls. We are blind to the real sights of this world; deaf to its voice; and dead to its death. And not till we know, that one grief outweighs ten thousand joys will we become what Christianity is striving to make us.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)