DINANT, BELGIUM

Today I took a drive with my mother-in-law, Penny, to Dinant.  This is in the Province of Namur which is south of where we live.   Driving south we first go through the flat landscape of central Belgium and then you start to see the rolling hills and ridges that form the Ardennes mountain range.   We drove down into the valley where Dinant is located right along the Meuse River.  A beautiful location.  The town was much bigger than I expected.  

First thing we saw as we came into town was this great rock formation.   

This is the Collegiate Church of Notre Dame (know known as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady).   It is located at the base of a huge cliff in the city of Dinant, Belgium.  This isn't the first church to be built on this site.  The first church was built here in 934.  In 1228 that church was destroyed when the cliff behind it collapsed, leaving just the front door standing.  The church was then rebuilt in 1472.  The bulbous roof was added in 1566.

The church was again destroyed in August of 1914 when the Germans invaded the city in a horrible bloody massacre which killed 10% of the population; including women and children.  More damage was inflicted on the church during World War II.

1914

At the top of the cliff behind the church is the Dinant Citadel.  It was built in the 11th century to keep control of the Meuse Valley.  It was destroyed by Charles the Bold (French) in 1466.  The Citadel was rebuilt between 1675-1698.  It was again destroyed in the 1800s and rebuilt by the Dutch.  It had great advantage of height but it was quite vulnerable at the rear.   Although it was demilitarized in 1878 the fighting in the corridors was quite fierce in 1914 with 58 French and 12 Germans dying by bayonet.  You can take 408 steps to the top or you can take a quick 2 minute ride on a cable car.