La Louvière

La Louvière
	La Louvière
	La Louvière
State :	Belgium
Region :	Wallonia
Province :	Hainaut
District :	La Louvière
Coordinates :	50 ° 29 ′ N , 4 ° 11 ′ E Coordinates: 50 ° 29 ′ N , 4 ° 11 ′ E
Area :	64.16 km²
Residents:	80,757 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density:	1,259 inhabitants per km²
Post Code:	7100
Prefix:	064
Mayor:	Jacques Gobert
; Local government address :	Place communale 1 ; 7100 La Louvière
Website:	www.lalouviere.be

La Louvière ( Walloon El Lovire ) is a city in the Belgian province of Hainaut in the Francophone region of Wallonia .

geography

It is the eleventh largest city in Belgium and the fifth largest in Wallonia. It is on the Haine River .

The municipality includes the towns of Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Saint-Vaast, Trivières, Boussoit, Houdeng-Aimeries, Houdeng-Goegnies, Maurage, Strépy-Bracquegnies and Besonrieux. The present municipality was formed in 1977 by the merger of these above mentioned places with the place La Louvière.

history

In the Middle Ages the place belonged to the lordship of Saint-Vaast . Coal has been mined here since 1390. In 1869, La Louvière became an independent city.

In the 1950s, the Belgian mining industry fell into a crisis; the price of his coal could not keep up with that of the other five members of the coal and steel union .

economy

Today's suburb Haine-Saint-Pierre housed a foundry from 1838 , which developed into a renowned locomotive factory by 1900; the Belgian state railway SNCB obtained a large part of its heavy steam locomotives from Haine-Saint-Pierre. Of greater economic importance were the boat lifts, which enabled a connection between the Mons region and the North Sea via the Canal du Center in the heyday of coal mining . Today this canal is only of touristic importance (see section Sights). In 2002 the ship lifts were replaced by a new, large lifting system, an eye-catcher in this region that can be seen from afar.