Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
We collect cities. Small cities. Small cities of Europe. It started several years ago when my wife and I were in a position to travel a little bit more than we could before. Simultaneously, this travel blog was born.
Meuse River, Dinant, Belgium.
Some time ago, we went from Germany to France with a short two-day stop in Bruges, Belgium. When we came out to the old city of Bruges for the first time, I felt something special, something like déjà vu. I had already been here. Maybe it was in my previous life, but, to be sure, it was. I think Bruges didn’t change a lot during the last few hundred years, therefore if you lived there in medieval times (in your previous life), most likely youd find your house even today.
I asked my wife, “Would you like to live here?”
“Yes. And you?”
“I think, yes.”
From that moment, we played this game every time when we stayed in the next small European city. “Would you like to live here?” I am stressing the meaning: “to live,” but not just “to stay for a while.” Sometimes, an answer was negative, for example:
- in Tivoli and Pompeii, Italy;
- in Dubrovnik and Split, Croatia;
- in Cordoba and Figueres, Spain;
- in Gordes and Annecy, France.
For us, those places were good just for visiting, but not for living. However, sometimes an answer was affirmative, and our collection of cities for perfect living started to grow. Now, besides Bruges, it includes:
- Zell am See, Austria;
- Budva, Montenegro;
- Füssen, Bavaria, Germany;
- Orvieto and Bergamo, Italy;
- and some others.
Recently, the collection was supplemented with one more item: the city of Dinant, Belgium. This historical artefact is the most unusual in our exposition. Why? Because it has no outstanding attractions. It has no medieval streets. It has no sea. What it has is a modest, but brutal church, a citadel, and an abbey where monks have brewed the famous Leffe already 800 years. And yes, Antoine-Joseph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born there. That’s all. However, we found one more thing there: déjà vu.
City Government Office, Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
The promenade of Dinant, Belgium.
Dinant has chosen such an unlucky location that, for its whole life, it has been forced to pay a high price for that choice. It seated itself between the two most aggressive countries of Europe: France and Germany. Their armies were so “polite” that they regularly paid visits to each other and constantly moved forth and back through Dinant. Moreover, other armies as well, hadn’t turned down the chance to visit Dinant. Even Spaniards, Russian, and Americans have been here. Probably, the Citadel of Dinant could be entered into the Guinness Book as the most often besieged fortress of Europe. Unfortunately, we can only see its walls; the castle was demolished. Today this citadel is a museum.
Nevertheless, the tiny town survived and is trying to be a resort town with its own river promenade. For most tourists this is a one-day-visit place. They come, visit a church, the citadel, and the home of Sax, take pictures of the Meuse River and numerous saxophones on the Charles de Gaulle Bridge, and leave. But some (including prisoners of the local jail) come here to live in the peaceful atmosphere and breathe fresh air for a while. We have found at least one hotel, but preferred to book an apartment. As it turns out, this apartment was located in front of a prison (which looks rather like a small castle), and I have a strong feeling that it was the calmest place in the city, even in the evenings.
The prison of Dinant, Belgium.
City Government Square, Dinant, Wallonia, Belgium.
You may think this is a church. No. This is the Palace of Justice of Dinant.
There was one more reason why Irina chose Dinant as our residence for a 10-day stay in Belgium. No, it wasn’t because of the biggest nuclear power station of Belgium, Tihange, which is located 30 km away. Dinant sits in the center of the virtual circle of places we intended to visit with our rented car:
Château de Vêves. A picturesque well-preserved medieval castle of the family of Beaufort is one of the most remarkable examples of 15th century military architecture. During the castles restoration work, between 1969 and 1979, great attention was paid to the castles interior decoration. You are able to cross time barriers and imagine what it would have been like during the different periods from the Middle Ages to the present time.
Chateau de Veves
Abbaye d’Orval. Founded in 1132, the Notre-Dame of Orval is one of the most remarkable Cistercian abbeys in Belgium. This historical location is home to stunning art collections and a Trappist beer, famous in the Ardennes region. Have you ever tasted Orval beer?
Abbaye d’Orval
Château de Bouillon. The owner of the castle, Godfrey of Bouillon, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. When crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099, Godfrey became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but refused to be a king, saying that he couldn’t wear the gold crown of a king where Jesus Christ had worn a crown of thorns.”
Chateau de Bouillon
Villers-la-Ville, the ruins of a Cistercian abbey, will show you more than 800 years of history.
Villers-la-Ville
Gaasbeek Castle. It began its history from a medieval fortress of 1240. A beautiful castle in neo-romantic style was built on the ruins of the destroyed fortress at the beginning of the 16th century, and was gifted to the Belgium State in 1921 by its last owner, Marchioness Arconati Visconti. Today, this is a museum, and its interior is as stunning as the exterior. You won’t be disappointed.
Gaasbeek Castle
Château de Walzin. During its 900-year history, it was a fortress, a castle, just a two-storey country house, then a castle again. It was plundered and burned down by the French army, the Austrian army, and the French army once more, and restored, each time becoming increasingly better.
Chateau de Walzin
Hallerbos. A picturesque forest with blue and white flowers.
Every morning, we had breakfast, went to the prison’s parking lot, wished all the prisoners to be free again as soon as possible, and headed to our next goal. All the above-mentioned attractions were stunning, and deserve separate blog posts, but every time during the way back (especially after the nuclear station) I found myself thinking about the forthcoming evening.
We park our car, go to a small local supermarket, buy amazing French cheese, amazing beef carpaccio, amazing French wine, some fruits and vegetables, and have dinner discussing the impressions of the day and viewing the photographs. After that … and this is the culmination … we go out for a promenade along the river Meuse. All visitors have already left our Dinant. Now, it’s only for us. Déjà vu again.
More about Belgium:
Lost Miracle or Farewell Miranda Castle
November, Belgium, Antwerp. Rubens, Churches, and Diamonds
How We Rented Accommodation in Bruges, Belgium
Brugge: Capital of Chocoholics and the Best City in the World
October 2, 2018 at 10:35 am
When I was younger, I often heard the phrase “it is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” I like the idea of turning it on its head and evaluating places on whether I would like to live there.
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October 2, 2018 at 12:14 pm
Many thanks. That was a reason why we started to play this game.
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October 2, 2018 at 11:24 am
When we went to Belgium, we fell in love! We were really surprised
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October 2, 2018 at 12:21 pm
Thank you, Meghan.
Amazing country. It’s packed with castles, palaces, and numerous historic sites. Simultaneously, Belgium is an unhappy country because it has been touched by almost every European war.
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October 2, 2018 at 11:30 am
I never heard about this place but it do like it is well worth a visit.
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October 2, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Many thanks, Freja.
I’m glad to give you some motivation for a visit to this tiny town.
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October 2, 2018 at 12:41 pm
will consider it if we go to belgium.
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October 2, 2018 at 2:49 pm
Beautiful photos.
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October 3, 2018 at 12:04 pm
Many thanks, Chantel.
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October 2, 2018 at 6:49 pm
I love Belgium but I’ve never visited Dinant. It looks like somewhere I’d love. Beautiful, peaceful. Me and my partner also do the ‘could you live here’ game😊 x
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October 3, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Dannii, you and your partner are so young that your game could end up happy living in some beautiful corner of this world. Be ready.
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October 3, 2018 at 12:18 pm
😁 x
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October 3, 2018 at 1:56 am
Beautiful architectural designs. Will be reading more about the place because of your article. Thanks for sharing.
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October 3, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Thank you. I am glad to hear it. Maybe, Dinant will be your next destination.
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October 3, 2018 at 5:26 am
Gorgeous pictures of the riverside and castles. Didn’t make it here on our last trip to Belgium. Looks stunning!
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October 3, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Thanks a lot.
Next time in Belgium, don’t forget to visit this town.
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October 3, 2018 at 7:09 am
Thank looks really great and interesting. Thanks for the tip.
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October 3, 2018 at 12:44 pm
Thank you for reading.
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October 3, 2018 at 12:40 pm
Oh this looks spectacular. I knew very little of Dinant, certainly not if it’s many castles. Thanks for posting I’ll be saving this blog for the future
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October 3, 2018 at 11:09 pm
Thank you.
I’ve subscribed to your blog.
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October 3, 2018 at 7:36 pm
I’m exhausted from this trip. Thank you. I love the saxophone fountain, and I’m sending a link to all my musical siblings, including my sister, who started out as a sax player before becoming a pianist. I laughed out loud about the “most besieged fortress” category. I’m most impressed by the photograph of Gaasbeek Castle. In a long-ago era, the English term for that format was “motte-and-bailey,” or “moat and keep,” in more modern vocabulary, although Gaasbeek is an extraordinary example. And we play that “would you live here?” game, too. Sometimes we surprise one another with the answers. Wonderful writing and photography.
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October 3, 2018 at 11:16 pm
Thank you, Brad.
Dinant (and Belgium) is one more place where you would feel yourself like a fox in a henhouse – castles, fortresses, or historical places are on every step.
It would be interesting to have a look at your list of perfect places for living.
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October 4, 2018 at 9:11 am
Okay. I’ll think about that. It’s not a well-defined list, but I’ll send you a comment after I write something down.
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October 4, 2018 at 9:27 am
OK. Thank you.
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October 4, 2018 at 4:57 pm
Smaller towns are always the best, especially when the day trippers leave. One of my favorite towns is Brugge. I will visit there many times and never be tired of it.
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October 4, 2018 at 11:06 pm
I agree, Brugge is the best, but Dinant is different.
Thank you, Terry.
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October 5, 2018 at 6:17 pm
Fantastic photos, Victor, and a very informative article.
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October 5, 2018 at 11:15 pm
Thanks a lot, Anneli.
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October 10, 2018 at 2:25 pm
It’s so fun to read other travel blogger’s pieces. I love all of the different perspectives, even if we have visited some of the same places. Nice read Victor.
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October 10, 2018 at 2:29 pm
Many thanks, Lea.
To write them is also fun thing. It’s like visiting them once more.
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October 10, 2018 at 2:31 pm
Agreed. I have relived many of those places on my own blog…much like rereading a journal.
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November 9, 2018 at 12:41 am
wow, such an amazing combination of various things!
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November 9, 2018 at 1:34 am
And these things are beautiful, are they?
Thank you.
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November 24, 2018 at 1:40 pm
Love the ritual of “Would you like to live here?” It takes you to a certain depth of attention.
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November 24, 2018 at 10:46 pm
Thank you, Rachel.
You are right. You start look at any place from the different angle.
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December 25, 2018 at 7:00 pm
I’m planning my first backpacking trip through Europe with my best friend. We’re constantly looking for these small towns to see the culture and get out of the touristy areas (even though they are beautiful as well). Dinant is definitely on the list now! Thank you for sharing!
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December 25, 2018 at 10:19 pm
Dinant is touristic town, but it worth of visiting anyway. Happy travel, Megan. Thank you for reading.
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January 3, 2019 at 10:54 am
Wow.. looks really great and interesting. Thanks for the tip.
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January 3, 2019 at 10:58 am
Thank you for reading and commenting.
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January 9, 2019 at 1:41 am
Hi Victor, a lovely post with an insightful commentary and stunning photos. I would like to ask permission to reblog it on my own site, Discovering Belgium please.
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January 9, 2019 at 4:01 am
Of course, Denzil. It will be a honor for me. Thank you.
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January 12, 2019 at 11:34 am
Thank you Victor, you can find it here: https://discoveringbelgium.com/2019/01/12/dinant/ I wish you much continued success with your blog!
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January 12, 2019 at 12:19 pm
Many thanks, Denzil. Your website is excellent. God bless Belgium.
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