Day Trip: Dinant, Belgium

On Sunday after church, we ventured out on the road to Dinant.  It took about an 1 hour and a half to get there.   Dinant is a beautiful riverside resort town.  The town is quite a spectacle with a citadel perched up high above the colorful buildings.  One stunning building in particular is the Gothic church, Collegiale Notre-Dame.  This picture is my favorite.  It's one you see in a lot of the postcards for obvious reasons.  We crossed over the bridge to the other side that is also decorated with quaint row-buildings to get this lovely shot.

Per orders of the children, we headed to the cable car first.  It was a quick minute, maybe 2 minutes to the top.



You can see the cable car.  It's blue.

 

 Dinant, despite it's current beauty had suffered a lot of turmoil and bloodshed in the centuries past. In 1466, the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold,  destroyed the town and drowned 800 citizens by throwing them from the citadel into the River Meuse. During WW1, German troops killed 700 citizens when shots were fired on the town. 

 

 

View from the top!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to the employees maintaining the citadel because not only did we get to see a fortress, enjoy views from high up of the city, but the boys also got to play on a playground while we were up there.  I love that they keep the kids in mind. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Collegiale Notre-Dame has also been reconstructed many times over the years.  It gained collgiate status in 934.  However, in 1228, it was destroyed when part of the cliff collapsed on top of it.   It was also reconstructed after WW1 and WW2. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bridge over the River Meuse was lined with sculpted saxophones. 

Adolphe Sax was born in the town of Dinant.  The first saxophone was built in 1841 or 1842, and he patented his new instrument in 1846.  Sadly, the poor man, died before he saw what a instrumental effect (no pun intended) his invention had on the world.  During his time, the saxophone was not supported in the orchestra.   Sax went bankrupt and died well before the jazz era that truly appreciated his invention.

 

 

 

 

While, Dinant is not a large town, it was very enjoyable to go to.  We definitely did not fit everything into our one afternoon.  We will go back for the river cruise, a tour of the Abbey de Leffe, and to see some stalactite caves.  The good thing is it's not far, and having more to do gives us a reason to make the trek back.