๐ง๐ช Wavre is a city and municipality of Wallonia, capital of the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Wavre is in the Dyle valley. Most inhabitants are native French speakers.
The municipality includes the sub-municipalities of Limal and Bierges. Wavre is also called "the City of the Maca", referring to the statue of the small boy trying to climb the wall of the city hall. Tradition holds that touching the Maca's buttocks brings a year of luck.
Roman and Medieval times The foundations of a wealthy Roman villa were found very close to Wavre, complete with a portico and many rooms. This part of Gaul, however, was ravaged by the Germanic invasions in the 3rd and 4th century, and it is only in the year 1050 that Wavre was mentioned for the first time, as a dependency of the County of Leuven, part of the Brabant pagus. The chapel built by the counts near the former Gallo-Roman villa was ceded to the Affligem Abbey a few years later. By the 13th century a market already existed in the budding town built at the crossroads of the Brussels-Namur and Nivelles-Leuven roads. In 1222, Duke Henry I of Brabant granted the town its city charter. At around the same time, the Affligem Abbey expanded its Wavre possessions into a priory, which attracted pilgrims from a wide region around the city.
16th- to 18th-century disasters The relative peace of the city came to an end on 8 March 1489, when Duke Albert of Saxony took it and pillaged it in retaliation for Wavre's sympathy with Brabantโs revolt against Austria. From then on until the beginning of the 18th century, the city went through one disaster after another. Between the destruction by Duke Charles of Guelders in 1504 and that brought by Louis XIVโs wars around 1700, Wavre would know several debilitating crises, either at the hand of foreign armies (e.g., the Spanish in 1604) or because of epidemics (1624โ1625, 1668) or major fires (28 April 1695 and 17 July 1714). The 18th century was relatively prosperous, but a troubled period started again around 1790, with Wavre's participation in the Brabant Revolution against Austrian interests. After the Battle of Fleurus (1794), the city became French. Like many of its neighbours, the city suffered from mandatory conscription, curtailment of religious freedoms, and the dissolution of the old administrative offices.
From Waterloo until now On 18 and 19 June 1815 the Battle of Wavre was fought here on the same day as the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon had sent Marshal Grouchy to pursue part of the retreating Prussian army under the command of General Johann von Thielmann. Despite hearing the cannon sound from nearby Waterloo, Grouchy decided to obey his orders and engage the one Prussian Corps in Wavre. By the time Grouchy's battle was over, Napoleon had already lost at Waterloo.
The century that followed saw the expansion of local industry, including foundries, a paper mill, and a sugar refinery. Wavre was severely affected by both World Wars, with heavy fighting, bombing and several houses put on fire. In the 21st century, Wavre enjoyed renewed prosperity as the capital of the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant created in 1995.
Attractions โข The Gothic-style church of St John the Baptist was built in 1475. Its main tower houses a 50-bell carillon. โข The city hall dates from the 18th century. It is housed in the former church of the Carmelites and features a cloistered courtyard. โข In 1975, the first Walibi amusement park, named after Wavre, Limal, and Bierge, to the west of the city centre further up the Dyle. Since then, Walibi has become the largest amusement park in Belgium and spawned similar parks in France and the Netherlands. The park was once known as the best themepark in Europe and has over 1,000,000 visitors per year. โข The Basilica of Our Lady of Basse-Wavre, Basilique Notre-Dame de Basse-Wavre is a centre of pilgrimage for Roman Catholics.
Infrastructure Wavre is the location of the Wavre Transmitter, a broadcasting facility for shortwave, medium wave, FM and TV of the Belgian broadcasting society. As aerial for medium wave a guyed steel framework mast is used. It is the third tallest structure in Belgium. The aerials for FM and TV are on a free standing lattice tower. On 13 October 1983 a storm destroyed the main transmission mast for TV transmission.
Basse-Wavre railway station (Gare de Basse-Wavre) is located in Basse-Wavre ("lower Wavre") a suburb to the east of the city centre and lower down the Dyle.[a]
Wavre has a population of over 32,200 people. Wavre also forms the centre of the wider Walloon Brabant Province which has a population of over 403,599 people.
To set up a UBI Lab for Wavre see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns - Sister Cities Wavre has links with:
๐จ๐ณ Shenzen, China ๐จ๐ณ Shenzhen, China๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Bournemouth 50.72
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Exeter 50.723
๐ซ๐ท Boulogne-sur-Mer 50.725
๐บ๐ฆ Novovolynsk 50.726
๐ต๐ฑ Dzierลผoniรณw 50.729
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Poole 50.717
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Dorchester 50.715
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Newport 50.701
๐ฉ๐ช Bad Godesberg 50.689
๐ฉ๐ช Altenkirchen 50.688
๐จ๐ฟ ฤeskรก Lรญpa 50.683
๐ณ๐ฑ Zwijndrecht 4.65
๐ณ๐ฑ Alphen aan den Rijn 4.657
๐ง๐ช Flemish Brabant 4.591
๐ณ๐ฑ Capelle aan den IJssel 4.583
๐ง๐ช Philippeville 4.55
๐ณ๐ฑ Zoetermeer 4.493
Locations Near: Wavre 4.61074,50.7169
๐ง๐ช Flemish Brabant 4.591,50.873 d: 17.4
๐ง๐ช Woluwe-Saint-Pierre 4.467,50.833 d: 16.4
๐ง๐ช Leuven 4.702,50.879 d: 19.1
๐ง๐ช Brussels 4.371,50.836 d: 21.5
๐ง๐ช Ixelles-Elsene 4.367,50.833 d: 21.5
๐ง๐ช Ixelles 4.367,50.833 d: 21.5
๐ง๐ช Schaarbeek 4.383,50.867 d: 23.1
๐ง๐ช Saint-Gilles 4.35,50.817 d: 21.4
๐ง๐ช Schaerbeek 4.368,50.859 d: 23.2
Antipodal to: Wavre -175.389,-50.717
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16725.8
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 15941.4
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 15900.7
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15673.7
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11933.6
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 11857.3
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 11845
๐บ๐ธ Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 11839.7