Namur, Administrative capital in Wallonia, Belgium
Namur is the capital of Wallonia at the point where the Meuse and Sambre rivers join, with a fortified hill rising steeply between them. The old town spreads below the fortress and shows narrow streets lined with brick houses, small squares and bridges linking the left and right banks.
A Celtic settlement on the river grew into a county in the tenth century and later passed between Flemish and Burgundian rulers. The fortress faced repeated sieges and changes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries before losing importance in the nineteenth.
The name comes from a Celtic word meaning bend or curve, pointing to its position where two rivers meet. Today you see walkers and cyclists using the riverside paths, while the old town shows cafés and shops filling the streets.
The old town is easy to walk around, while the hilltop fortress requires a climb or a short ride. Many museums and public buildings lie within walking distance of each other, and the riverside paths offer flat routes for strolling.
Below the fortress run around 500 meters (1640 feet) of tunnels and passages that visitors can walk through. These underground spaces show different building phases of the fortifications and offer a look at earlier defense methods.
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