2023-09-17 16:00:00
Located on the edge of the Liège metropolitan area, Chaudfontaine is also a gateway to the Ardennes. Its villages preserve an ample and diverse heritage, rich in a history marked by industry and commerce, agriculture and thermal tourism. In addition to fifteen listed monuments and sites, the town is also home to numerous properties included in the heritage inventory and very beautiful elements of small popular heritage.
Its history, both ancient and multiple, which finds its origins in Prehistory, is characterized by an essentially religious Middle Ages, before the appearance of hydrotherapy in modern times and the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.
Religious heritage. The entity of Chaudfontaine offers a very rich and diverse religious heritage. The most famous church is undoubtedly the basilica of Chèvremont, which dominates the Vesdre valley and marks the landscape. The mound of Chèvremont has been occupied, since the end of the 7th century, by a fortified residence belonging to the palace mayors of the Kingdom of Austrasia. At the beginning of the 8th century, they offered management of the place to a religious institution.
Beaufays Priory: exterior views without winter snow. ©photo Vincent Rocher SPW-AWaP
Sainte Begge (†694), daughter of the mayor of the palace Pépin I of Landen and mother of Pépin II of Herstal, stayed in Chèvremont from 640 to 670 with her husband Anségisel, who was assassinated there. Begge then joined Andenne, where she founded a monastery. The lords of Chèvremont, perched on their eagle’s nest, openly opposed the supervision of the brand new principality of Liège, born in 985. It is therefore no surprise that in 987, the imperial army and the prince -Bishop of Liège Notger besieges and destroys the fortress. This then serves as an open-air quarry.
On a religious level, it was not until 1688 that Chèvremont became a popular Marian pilgrimage site. It is from this period that the construction of the very beautiful Notre-Dame chapel dates from. A Calvary path, leaving from Vaux-sous-Chèvremont, provides access to the site. The town is also home to monasteries. Let us cite the former priory of Beaufays, an exceptional building mainly built in the 18th century and in the heart of a wooded park, and the Carmel of Mehagne, built in the 1930s. Finally, the Saint-François-Xavier church in Chaudfontaine, built in 1839 along the main road, is in neo-Gothic style.
Second World War WWII tank near Fort Embourg. ©photo Vincent Rocher SPW-AWaP
Military heritage. Dominating the valleys of the Ourthe de la Vesdre, built in unreinforced concrete rather than masonry like the other Liège forts, the Embourg fort takes the shape of an irregular rectangle. This architecture contrasts with most of the other works in the fortified position of Liège, which were more in the shape of a triangle. The site is surrounded by a ditch 6 m deep and 8 m wide, defended in a row by casemates located in the counterscarp walls.
In the middle was the central massif housing the service premises. Given its location controlling the road leading from Liège to Spa, it is the highest in altitude of all the Liège forts. Attacked like the rest of the position, placed under the command of Captain-Commander Bovier, it surrendered on August 13, 1914, at the time when a German regiment was preparing to attack, and was occupied during the rest of the war. . Rearmed in preparation for the Second World War, it was surrounded on May 13, 1940, bombed on the 15th, and fell on the 17th.
A commemorative association, created in 1946 with the aim of perpetuating the memory of the two wars, had a monument erected and maintains a regularly accessible museum in the fort. Evoking the two conflicts, this one is the first in Belgium to be devoted to fortification. Opened in 1973, it presents a unique collection of weapons, costumes and military equipment.
Superb wrought iron marquise of the station and station esplanade. ©photo Vincent Rocher SPW-AWaP
Dominating the Vesdre valley, another fort, that of Chaudfontaine, one of the six of the fortified position of Liège, is also worth the detour. After two days of resistance, he too gave in on August 13, 1914 following the perforation of the vault of his ammunition magazine, the explosion of which led to the death of a good part of the garrison. Renovated, rearmed and consolidated in 1933, the fort was shelled by the Luftwaffe on August 17, 1940 and immediately abandoned.
It was not repurposed until the 1980s. After the war, the victims of the August 1914 explosion were buried in a small cemetery located not far from the fort, which has 71 graves spread over four rows. A memorial monument representing a Belgian soldier lying under the flag overlooks the site. The fort has for its part become an original tourist attraction: it hosts Fort Adventure, a place of entertainment in the form of an adventure course.
ORGANIZE YOUR VISIT
There are many things to do in Chaudfontaine: visits, walks, tourist activities…
Released in 2023, Heritage Book no. 173 is entirely devoted to the commune of Chaudfontaine.
TO KNOW MORE
A new Heritage Notebook dedicated to the commune of Chaudfontaine has just been published by AWaP Editions. This richly illustrated work offers a complete discovery of the entity. It also traces the history of this charming town located at the gates of the city of Liège.
If you would like to purchase this publication, do not hesitate to contact 081 23 07 03 or [email protected]or consult the online sales site of the Walloon Heritage Agency (promotion.awap.be). The Notebook is also on sale in many bookstores and at the Archéoforum de Liège shop. If you order Carnet no. 173, “The Heritage of Chaudfontaine”, from the Walloon Heritage Agency before October 6, 2023, you will be able to benefit from a 50% discount on Carnet no. 140, “The Heritage of Verviers », i.e. €13 + shipping costs for both notebooks (offer valid while stocks last). Don’t hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity with the code “Chaudfontaine notebook promo”.
“The Heritage of Chaudfontaine”, Carnet du Patrimoine no 173, AWaP, 2023, 64 p. €10.
Chaudfontaine – war memorial – war stained glass ©photo Vincent Rocher SPW-AWaP
CHAUDFONTAINE, ITS WATER AND ITS SPA
Chaudfontaine mineral water has the particularity of following a precise, long and deep underground path. It has been the subject of studies since the beginning of the 18th century but was not marketed until 1924, when the water was bottled under the name “Thermale Chaudfontaine”. The company, taken over several times over the past 100 years, is still active and has been regularly modernized.
The locality is also known for its hydrotherapy. The adventure began in 1676, when the farmer Simon Sauveur exploited thermal water which flowed at 36°C in a meadow of which he was a tenant. The first baths, housed in a modest clay and half-timbered hut, quickly declined. In 1714, a real thermal establishment, the first hotel of the baths, was opened. At the time, the prince-bishop of Liège, Joseph-Clement of Bavaria, established a special boat service, the Vesdre being navigable as far as Nessonvaux.
The river is then the best way to come and take the waters at Chaudfontaine. At that time there was only a poor path along the river and the road was only built in 1727. The railway line was built in sections in the 1840s. The station, listed , includes a superb wrought iron canopy. The first hotel of the baths, rebuilt on various occasions, remained in the same place until 1983, the year of its demolition.
Around the hotel and in the surrounding hills, numerous walks, including that leading to the Devil’s Bridge, were available to tourists and spa guests. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Chaudfontaine-Source was a pleasant resort open to all. The people of Liège also go there to have fun. They arrived there by boat, cart, or steam train from 1843. Since 1862, the locality has had a party establishment, the Kursaal, which became a casino in 1939. Expanded in 1960 and renovated in 1974 then at the beginning of the 21st century. century, it is still a stone’s throw from the station.
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