Boasting a privileged position at the heart of economic Europe, just a few hours from Brussels, Amsterdam and London, Valenciennes is a city with a rich cultural past. With its unique architecture, pretty cobbled streets and numerous parks and green spaces, the capital of French Hainaut has everything to please. With its rich mining heritage, the town is also part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais coalfield, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With JOOKS, discover the Athens of the North thanks to the sports and tourist routes offered by the town.
Situated at the confluence of the Rhônelle and Escaut rivers, Valenciennes enjoys an exceptional location, which has encouraged people to settle here since the Middle Ages. From a market town, the city gradually grew to become a leading centre in the region.
As the capital of the northern steel and metallurgy industries and the birthplace of many famous figures such as the painter Antoine Watteau and the father of advertising, Jean Mineur, the Valenciennes region today boasts a unique heritage, the fruit of almost two and a half centuries of progress and avant-garde thinking.
Art and history
With its keep, count's palace and fortified walls, Valenciennes has always been a highly coveted strategic position. Initially Frankish, it passed under the control of the houses of Lorraine, Flanders, Bavaria, Burgundy, Austria and Spain, before finally becoming French in 1677.
Valenciennes has suffered many battles, sieges and invasions, all of which have left their mark on the town. More recently, in 1940, the town also suffered a fire that caused considerable damage to the city centre. As a result, very little remains from before the Second World War. However, you will be able to admire, among others, the timber-framed and corbelled Spanish house, which dates back to the 16th century, when Valenciennes was part of the Spanish Netherlands. It owes its name to this and not to its style. It now houses the tourist office.
Despite a turbulent history and a past marked by war, Valenciennes today is a city full of charm and full of treasures. Along the way, you'll come across many works of art, scattered throughout the old town. You can admire several statues by Valenciennes sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, including one of his masterpieces, ‘Ugolin and his sons’.
Mining heritage
Valenciennes and the Valenciennois region are inextricably linked with their mining past. In the 18th century, following a number of conflicts - notably with the Habsburgs, ruled by Charles V, but also with Louis XIV - the town's economic situation was not in the best of health. This changed with the discovery of the region's first coal mine. A huge coal deposit was discovered in the commune of Anzin, and Valenciennes became the centre of a major mining basin. The Compagnie des Mines d'Anzin was created a few years later and dominated the area until the middle of the 20th century.
The region was also the main source of inspiration for Émile Zola's masterpiece Germinal. He spent a week in Anzin in 1884, where he carried out meticulous research into the workings of the mines and the living conditions of the miners.
Many remains of this prosperous period can still be seen today. During your walk, you may come across the Ledoux headframe in Condé-sur-l'Escaut, the last remnant of the Ledoux pit, or the former coal station in Fresnes-sur-Escaut.
Nearby
Away from the city centre, you can discover the exceptional natural heritage surrounding Valenciennes and the richness of the Valenciennois region. On the Un'Escaut loop, for example, you can explore the mining towns, which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, or the city's fortifications, all set against the lush green backdrop of the banks of the Escaut and the Étang de Chabaud-Latour.
Just ten kilometres from Valenciennes, the village of Sebourg is a veritable jewel case of greenery. Despite its small size, the village has more than 800 years of history and is full of evidence of the past: from its medieval church to the First World War cemetery and the still-working mill, Sebourg symbolises the rich rural heritage of the surrounding area.
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