Mariembourg
Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ' N , 4 ° 31' E
Mariembourg ( Walloon "Mariyambour", German rare / uncommon Marienburg ) is a former fortress town in the western part of the Belgian Ardennes . It is located at the mouth of the Brouffe in the Eau Blanche (source river of the Viroin ) and today belongs to the municipality of Couvin . Until the Belgian municipal reform on January 1, 1977, the place was an independent municipality.
history
The fortress was founded at the place previously called Pont à Fresne in 1546 by Maria of Hungary , sister of Emperor Charles V and governor of the Netherlands as a counterpart to the French fortress of Maubert-Fontaine, 25 km to the south . It was a rectangular structure 300 m by 270 m including bastions and moats.
As early as 1554, the fortress was taken by Henry II of France after only four days of siege, as it was no longer possible for the Spanish commander Philibert de Martigny to equip himself adequately for defense. As a replacement, Charles V had the fortress Philippeville built 11 km north and the Charlemont fortified in Givet on the Meuse . Mariembourg was called Henriborg under French rule, but was returned to Spain as early as 1559 in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis . In 1655 there was a city fire and reconstruction.
With the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659, France again won the city - for more than a century and a half. After a visitation, Louis XIV had the fortifications improved by Vauban . With the Second Peace of Paris on November 20, 1815, it came to the newly founded United Kingdom of the Netherlands . Since the separation of Belgium in 1830, Mariembourg has belonged to it. It became a railway junction with connections to Philippeville - Charleville (preserved), Heer-Agimont - Dinant (dismantled), Vireux-Wallerand (France) (today a museum railway), Couvin (preserved) and Hirson (France) (closed).
Cityscape
The fortress was razed in 1853. The eight-beam street plan of four axes intersecting on the central Place Marie de Hongrie has been preserved . The church of Sainte Madeleine and numerous houses are architectural monuments from the 17th century.
traffic
In Mariembourg there is a train station on the Charleroi – Couvin line. The national road No. 5, which also runs in north-south direction, has now passed the site as a four-lane bypass road. Mariembourg is the southern end of the RAVeL long-distance cycle route no.2 .
Mariembourg is the starting point of the Chemin de fer à vapeur des 3 vallées museum railway to Treignes .
Sons and daughters of the place
- Jacques-Théodore de Bryas (1631–1694), Prince Archbishop of Cambrai
