Dinant

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Home of the Couque De Dinant! Probably one of the most popular souvenir's of the area. An unusually large cookie, tasting of molasses but made only from flour & honey. Created in the XV century by a people who suffered from famine, disease & destruction, this "cookie" was a staple food. Think of the hardest, most stale, biscuit you've even eaten & multiply it by 20 :D ! DO NOT chew the cookie, it has the potential to break your teeth. One should let it "melt" in their mouth. It is petrified squared :D Delicious, really LOVE this cookie! It is said that these cookies had a dual purpose. During more prosperous times when the cookies were made out of tradition & not from need, the cookies were made to throw @ neighboring village town-folk with whom they had disputes. Namely Bouvignies. This would have inflicted some damage :D

Tucked in the Meuse Valley, Dinant is famous for it's rock climbing. Thousands of climbing tourists arrive each year as the rock face is more than challenging. The Belgian monarch, King Albert I fell from these rocks while climbing in 1934 & died from his injuries. The joy of the climb however, far outweighs the risk.

Dinant has been populated during Paleolithic, Celtic, Neolithic & Roman times & like so many European countries has seen mass devastation. Originally known to be referred to as Divonanto (Celtic) this city has been occupied, invaded & destroyed by Austrians, French, Germans, Dutch..... the city has been burned several times, inhabitants bound together & thrown into the river by Duke Phillip & his son Charles the Bold (1400's), WWI left it's scars in it's wake & still it stands.

Masters in the art of metal works, Dinant has supplied many of the country's churches/cathedrals with their decoration. Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone here, the art of lace-making is shown all over the city, the Dinant Abbey is where Belgium's famous Leffe trappiste was originally made, kayaking & boating on the Meuse River are popular spring & summer sports & the ambiance of the city keeps tourists coming back in droves :)

The main road was built by Charlemange, Charles de Gaulle was wounded on the bridge during a battle (that's why it's named after him) King Henry III fell into the Meuse, couldn't swim & was saved from drowning. Because of this, the royals of England sent vast sums of money to Dinant in appreciation & these finances, in part, were used to (re)build the church Notre Dame. Originally built romanesque (end of the 12th century) much of it was destroyed by falling rock directly behind the church. The gothic renovations do not look out of place & it's a lovely structure!

I've been here so many times, I'm trying to see this city through the eyes of a tourist ;)

http://www.citadellededinant.be/gb/index.htm

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