Namur, Belgium

Namur is the capital of Wallonia, the French-speaking southern part of Belgium. Namur is located 60 km south-east of Belgium's capital city, Brussels. It is easily accessible by road (the E411 highway Brussels), train or boat (the Meuse comes from France and the Samber flow through Namur where they actually meet).

Namur is an important commercial and industrial centre, located on the Walloon industrial backbone, the Sambre and Meuse valley. It produces machinery, leather goods, metals and porcelain. It is also an important railway junction situated on the north-south line between and Luxembourg City, and the east-west line between Lille and Liège.
Namur has taken on a new role as the capital of the federal region of Wallonia. Its location at the head of the Ardennes has also made it a popular tourist centre, with a casino located in its southern district on the left bank of the Meuse.

Sightseeing
The town's most prominent sight is the citadel, now demilitarised and open to the public. It plays host to a beer festival at Easter. Namur also has a distinctive 18th century cathedral dedicated to Saint Aubain and a belfry classified by UNESCO as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France which are listed as a World Heritage Site. The Couvent des Soeurs de Notre-Dame contains masterpieces of Mosan art by Hugo d'Oignies. Elsewhere there is an archeological museum and a museum dedicated to Félicien Rops. An odd Namurois custom is the annual Combat de l'Échasse d'Or (Fight for the Golden Stilt), held on the third Sunday in September. Two teams, the Mélans and the Avresses, dress in medieval clothes while standing on stilts and do battle in one of the town's principal squares. Namur possesses a distinguished university, the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP), also referred to as University of Namur, founded in 1831.

Festivals
Since 1986 Namur has been home to the Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film. A jazz (Nam'in'Jazz) and a rock (Verdur Rock) festivals also take place yearly in Namur.

Surroundings
Sights near Namur include Maredsous Abbey, Floreffe Abbey, and Annevoie Castle with its surrounding Jardins d'Annevoie.

Shopping
Namur is often said to be an "open sky" shopping mall. Major shopping streets stretch from the Namur train station to Rue de Fer and Rue de l'Ange where you will find normal fashion outlets like H&M, Newlook,Zara, Kim Pie,Cool Cats, O' Appels, Charles Vogele Switzerland, Esprit, JBC, C& A, Women's secret, ICL Paris IV, Di, Camaieu among others. The inner city supermarkets are one Match and one (smaller) Spar. Other supermarkets are Carrefour and COlruyt in Jambes and another Colruyt and Delhaize in Salzinnes among others.

Golf
Namur offers many great golf courses…Among them, Golf Durbuy, Golf Rougemont and Five Nations Golf, historic and exclusive golf courses, all definitely worth playing.

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