Floreffe

Floreffe
Floreffe
State :	Belgium
Region :	Wallonia
Province :	Namur
District :	Namur
Coordinates :	50 ° 26 '  N , 4 ° 45'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '  N , 4 ° 45'  E
Area :	38.89 km²
Residents:	8144 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	209 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	5150
Prefix:	081
Mayor:	André Bodson (RPF)
Local government address :	Maison communale 9, Rue Emile-Romedenne 5150 Floreffe
Website:	www.floreffe.be

Floreffe is a municipality in the province of Namur in the Walloon part of Belgium on the Sambre River , about eleven kilometers southwest of the city of Namur . It consists of the districts of Floreffe , Floriffoux , Franière , Sovimont and Soye .

The village and the abbey

The name Floreffe comes from the Latin place name “Florete flores” (“On that the flowers bloom”).

In 1121 Norbert von Xanten founded the second Premonstratensian monastery here , the Floreffe Abbey , at the foot of which the village was built. The monastery was dissolved as a result of the French Revolution in 1797. After the Concordat of 1801 , the abbot returned to the abbey with some brothers. After the death of the last member of the convent in 1842, the abbey fell to the Namur diocese , which maintains a seminar center and school there. The monastery complex contains buildings from the 12th to the 20th century. The choir stalls of the abbey church (1632–1648), which were carved by Pierre Enderlin , are particularly worth seeing . Floreffe's ornate Bible from around 1170 from the monastery is now in the British Library in London (Add MS 17738).

In Floreffe, the nationally known arts and crafts salon Arisan'art, the World Music Festival Esperanzah, an exhibition of Floreff artists, a wine fair and a large flea market take place once a year. The cultural center of Floreffe organizes, among other things, a well-attended theater season. For sports fans there is a sports hall and the hiking trails GR long-distance hiking trail and cycle hiking trails ( RAVeL ) running through Floreffe . In and around Floreffe there are several caves, only the stalactite cave under the foundations of a castle-like tower is used for tourism. All the others can be viewed through the Floreffe Speleology Club. In the municipality part of Sovimont there is a vineyard on a community initiative "Vitis" which is looked after by the residents and invites every year to a festival of its patron saint St. Vincent .

Sons of the city

Floreffe Abbey

• Hugo von Floreffe , Middle Latin Premonstratensian monk and author who worked in the Floreffe monastery around 1228
• Victor Linart (1889–1977), racing cyclist

Web links

Commons : Floreffe  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Floreu in the Topographia Circuli Burgundici (Mathäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

• Website of the municipality of Floreffe