Hainaut Tourist Attractions: 15 Top Places to Visit
Planning to visit Hainaut? Check out our Hainaut Travel Guide video and see top most Tourist Attractions in Hainaut.
Top Places to visit in Hainaut (Belgium):
Francois Duesberg Museum, St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, Hospital Notre Dame de la Rose Museum, Pairi Daiza, Mons Memorial Museum, Le Bois du Cazier, Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church, Musee de la Photographie, Plugstreet 14-18 Experience, The Strepy-Thieu Funicular Lift, The Belfry of Tournai, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle et Vivarium, Chateau de Chimay, The Grand Hornu, Doudou Museum
For more information, Visit:
The Canals of Bruges, Belgium
Bruges (Dutch: Brugge]; French: Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country.
The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (from Brugge aan zee meaning Bruges on Sea). The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of whom around 20,000 live in the city centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km2 (238 sq mi) and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.
Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam and Stockholm, it is sometimes referred to as The Venice of the North. Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port and was once the chief commercial city in the world. Bruges is well known as the seat of the College of Europe, an elite university institute for European studies regarded as the EU's very own Oxbridge.
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Scheepsdale Bridge (Cantilever) Bruges, Belgium (Brugge), BRUGGE : Scheepsdalebrug
The bridge opens silently, notice how I miss the start of opening. Definitely of interest to all engineering fans but so was the old bridge.
This is a modern Cantilever Bridge or Rolling bascule bridge. With 15 metre high inclined roller arms. The new bridge is much wider that the previous one and has a separate bus lane and bicycle and pedestrian paths. For shipping, the central structure of the swing bridge is gone, increasing the passable width from 16 to 29 m.
The bridge is part of the N9 and crosses the Bruges-Ostend canal and connects the Scheepsdalelaan with the Blankenbergse and the Oostendse Steenweg.
The 725 tonnes weight of the bridge is balanced by ballast that is positioned in two 15 m-high arms of the bridge
The former bridge was designed by Arthur Vierendeel (1852-1940). Vierendeel taught at the Catholic University of Leuven and developed the revolutionary structure which bears his name: the Vierendeel truss.
The old bridge was also interesting from an engineering point of view in that it swung laterally, rather than opening upwards. In addition, while most of Vierendeel's bridges were welded, this one was riveted, since rivets were another construction feature Vierendeel thought should be used for decorative purposes.
The Old Bridge is still viewable on Google Maps street view (24May13). I guess the reason it was replaced is because the old bridge being a lateral was still a hindrance for larger vessels.
Although the Flemish Association for Industrial Archaeology campaigned to save at least a part of the oldest Vierendeel Bridge in the World Heritage town Brugge, they had no luck and the bridge was cut up for scrap. (search for photos of on FlickR)'
Engineering fans will both be delighted by the elegance and efficiency of the new Scheepsdale Bridge and horrified by the failure to find a way of preserving the old Vierendeel bridge.
Ayuntamiento en la Grand Place de Bruselas(Bélgica)/Town hall in Grand Place of Brussels(Belgium)
Slavka Holubova, Concierge, Waterways of Holland & Belgium: Tulips, Windmills & Canals
There's no better way to visit the Netherlands, a country with six official languages, than with someone who knows whereof she speaks, which makes Slavka an excellent choice. She can keep the conversation going in English, Dutch, German, and French (especially useful because Flemish, one of the languages of Belgium, has so many loan words from French), is fluent in Slovak (her native tongue) and Polish, and can even hold her own in Russian. But these are only the tools for her greatest proficiency: sharing knowledge, experience, and friendships with her American passengers, especially when it comes to introducing them to one of nature's greatest works of art — springtime in the Low Countries.
What do I like best about leading tours? Meeting new people, being every day in a different port.
Bruges, Belgium - Canals & Streets of Bruges (2018)
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country.
The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (from Brugge aan zee,[2] meaning Bruges by the Sea). The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval in shape and about 430 hectares in size. The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of whom around 20,000 live in the city centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km2 (238 sq mi) and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.
Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North. Bruges has a significant economic importance, thanks to its port, and was once one of the world's chief commercial cities. Bruges is well known as the seat of the College of Europe, a university institute for European studies.
[Cantonese] Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley
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Canal du Midi - Southern France
Canal du Midi - March 2016
The Magical Canal du Midi – A World Treasure
There is something very special about the Canal du Midi, something that simply makes people fall in love with it. Running from the city of Toulouse down to the Mediterranean port of Sète, the Canal du Midi is arguably the most beautiful and well-known stretch of inland waterway in Southern France.
These days the Canal du Midi is a haven for tourists from across the world who come to bask in its beauty and soak up the scenery. In the summer the weather is gorgeous, but the colours and its serenity make it a place for all seasons. It is easy to see why it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. First time visitors will certainly be bowled over by its magnificence and even old hands will find new and exciting things to explore on every visit. It is truly a magical holiday destination.
History of the Canal du Midi
It was the Romans who first had the idea of building a waterway to join the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, but the task proved impossible for many practical reasons. Even the great Leonardo da Vinci was unable to contemplate the task. In fact, it wasn’t until 1667 that construction actually began, under the reign of Louis XIV. Pierre-Paul Riquet designed and built the Canal Royal de Languedoc (as it was then known) with the aim of transporting wheat, wine and textiles. It took 12,000 people (surprisingly for this period, it was women who made up a large part of the workforce) to make it a reality, but it opened on May 15th 1681. However, it wasn’t until two centuries later, when his canal was linked to the Canal du Garonne, that Riquet’s dream of reaching the Atlantic was fulfilled.
The Canal Royal de Languedoc was renamed the Canal du Midi during the French Revolution, and by 1856 it carried over 100,000 tonnes of cargo and a million passengers a year. However, by the following year commerce had almost dried up due to the opening of the Bordeaux to Sete railway.
The combination of stunning scenery, wide variety of nature, avenue of trees and of course the sheer engineering prowess and unique locks that run the length of the canal, have given the Canal du Midi a renaissance. Since the 1990s tourists have flocked to the world renowned stretch of water and its popularity continues to grow.
To ensure the future appearance of the Canal du Midi, a huge replanting operation is currently underway, with thousands of new trees being planted to preserve the character of the canal for years to come.
The canal passes through a great number of wine growing areas, including the Herault, the Aude, Minervois and Corbieres. You will also see many fields of sunflowers, meander through little villages and past cafes and see a wide variety of wildlife.
From the Susanna Cavigliano Diaries
Music excerpts from - The New World
Magdeburg Water Bridge - The longest Water Bridge
The Magdeburg Water Bridge (German: Kanalbrücke Magdeburg) is a large navigable aqueduct in central Germany, located near Magdeburg.
The Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany deserve special mention. Opened in October 2003 and part of the Magdeburg crossing of waterways, it connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittellandkanal, crossing over the Elbe River. At 918 meters, it’s the longest navigable aqueduct in the world.
The Elbe–Havel Canal and Mittelland Canal canals had previously met near Magdeburg but on opposite sides of the Elbe, which was at a significantly lower elevation than the two canals. Ships moving between the two had to make a 12-kilometre detour, descending from the Mittelland Canal through the Rothensee boat lift into the Elbe, then sailing downstream on the river, before ascending to the Elbe-Havel Canal through Niegripp lock. Low water levels in the Elbe often prevented fully laden canal barges from making this crossing, requiring time-consuming off-loading of cargo.
The reunification of Germany and establishment of major water transport routes made the Water Bridge a priority again. Work started in 1997, with construction taking six years and costing €500 million. The water bridge now connects Berlin’s inland harbour network with the ports along the Rhine river.
Subsribe on Happy Traveler -
La Louvière Tout Pt 2
La Louvière Tout Pt 2