Seraing, Liège Province, Wallonia, Belgium

🇧🇪 Seraing is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.

The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Ougrée, and Seraing. With Liège, Herstal, Saint-Nicolas, Ans, and Flémalle, it forms the greater Liège agglomeration. To the south of Seraing are the Condroz and the Ardennes regions.

In addition to its steel factories, Seraing is home to the crystal manufacture Val Saint Lambert, which has been operating on the site of an old Cistercian abbey since 1826. The site of the Arcelor steel company, previously known as Cockerill-Sambre, is the former summer residence for the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.

History Several skeletons, potshards, weapons, and jewels were discovered here, dating from the 5th and 6th century, attesting to Seraing being inhabited in Frankish times. The first mention of Saran dates from 956, when a Carolingian farming domain extending on both sides of the river Meuse and owned by someone named Saran was donated to the abbey of Sint-Truiden. The whole territory soon passed to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. In the 11th century, Prince-Bishop Henri I of Verdun used a house in Seranus to entertain guests. Throughout the Middle Ages, the inhabitants of Seraing owed allegiance to Liège, pledging to defend the fluvial approach to the city in case of invasion, in exchange for tax exonerations. The first wooden bridge across the river, which replaced the ferry, was built in 1381.

Industrial development The name of the town changed several times throughout its history, with the current spelling only being set in the 18th century. At around that time, various factors combined to attract industrial investors to Seraing: the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the proximity of the river Meuse, and the discovery of coal at Ougrée. The first ironworks were founded there in 1809. John Cockerill and his brother James revolutionized the steel industry by using blast furnaces and coke instead of traditional charcoal. These inventions would be the basis for his new company, John Cockerill & Cie established in Seraing in 1817. Over the next decades, many more metallurgical plants and foundries were built in this area, which became an integral part of Wallonia's industrial backbone, the sillon industriel. Glassworkers found the proximity of a cheap source of coal attractive. The Val Saint Lambert started its operations in 1826.

Seraing was the first location in Belgium where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built in Belgium. Work began on the building in 1927 and completed before the end of 1930.

Liège Science Park Liège Science Park is a business incubator and science park of the University of Liège and is located on the territories of the municipalities of Seraing and Liège in Belgium.

In 1953, Marcel Dubuisson, the new president of the University of Liège supported the idea of creating a new type of campus, based on what he had seen during a stay at Harvard University in 1936. The campus should combine all the university services: libraries, accommodation units, sports facilities, the restaurants and the companies linked to the Alma Mater. Marcel Dubuisson together with Pierre Clerdent (Governor of the Province of Liège) drafted a plan for a site outside the city of more than 10 square km of land. The Sart Tilman site would become the new location for all the activities of the University of Liège.

In 1971, the Belgian Committee of Ministers for the economic and social cooperation created the science park which is located on both the municipality of Liège (Sart Tilman) and the municipality of Seraing (Cense rouge). In February 1975 the first company, IBM, settled on the science park. The site would be developed with the cooperation of three partners: SPI+, the Company-University Interface of Liège and the municipality of Seraing. Besides academic research, biotechnology, electronics, space and engineering. In 2003, the scientific park was named Liège Science Park as part of project which promotes the development of high-potential economic activities together with a closer cooperation between high-tech companies and research labs.

Sights • The Val Saint Lambert site includes the old Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey and the crystal manufacture, where glass workers still blow, carve, and etch the world-famous pieces of art. The neighbouring castle houses a glass museum. • The Cockerill castle used to be the summer residence of the prince-bishops of Liège, then a hospital under Napoleon, a powder magazine, and the personal property of William I of the Netherlands, who ceded it to the Cockerill family in 1817. • Besides the Cockerill castle, the historic centre of the city also includes the city hall and the main church, which harbours 12th-century baptismal fonts. • The forested region south of Seraing offers a multitude of strolls and hikes.