About Namur
Capital of Wallonia… Gateway to the Belgian Ardennes, a pearl born to the labour of love of the Sambre and the Meuse. Namur offers a rare and spectacular ambience, with its confluence right in the city centre overhung by a particularly impressive rocky spur. To each season its own charm; in its soul the city always remains warm and welcoming, its harmonious historic heart reveals its fine residences of the XVIIIth century, the Age of Enlightenment, whether you are walking in snow or sunshine. The peaceful atmosphere of the streets and alleys, even on very busy days, reflects the inhabitants’ taste for the art of good living!
Namur was founded near the confluence of the rivers Meuse and Sambre. More precisely, the first settlement took place on the small plot of land exactly in-between the two rivers. This plot of land resembles a pig's head, hence the French name 'Grognon' (pig's head). A large, high and long rock situated between Meuse and Sambre served as an ideal outlook post from where the Meuse valley could be overlooked and controlled. During Roman times people settled on the left bank of the Sambre river. It became a busy center with a lot of blacksmiths and potters. Later, the first Christian churches were built in the small city.
The Citadel of Namur has, at all times, held a strategic position in the heart of Europe. First of all as a command center of an important earldom in the Middle Ages, it was then coveted and besieged by all the Great Powers of Europe between the 15th and 19th century. From 1891, it was transformed into a huge park, a real green lung overlooking the capital of Wallonia. Today, the tourist is the one that takes the citadel by storm and is the privileged witness of 2,000 years of History. Open-air discovery along pedestrian circuits marked out with historical explanations; underground discovery, travelling through the miles and miles of galleries laid out over the centuries for the defense of one of the biggest citadels in Europe.
Nowadays, Namur has gained considerably in importance. The city is now the political capital of Wallonia. Here are the seats of the Walloon government and the Walloon Parliament. Namur has a population of about 100.000 people.
For more information:
Current Weather in Namur
Conference venue.
The Economic Development and Institutions Conference will take place at the University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge 8, 5000 Namur, Belgium.
You can reach the University eitherby train, by plane, by car or by bus.
By train
As the University campus is no more than 10' on foot from the main station, the train is certainly the best way to get to our campus. Namur is served by quite a lot of train lines. Just take a look at the map of the Belgian Railways. The main lines come from Brussels, Liège, Tournai, Koln, Luxemburg and Paris. Trains commute between Brussels and Namur twice an hour. Same from Liège, Charleroi and Mons. Taxis are also available in front of the station, in case you have to reach an hotel or a place outside the city center.
By plane
If you arrive at Brussels International Airport (Zaventem), you can easily reach the train station after exiting the customs : take a rolling staircase at your left and go down to the train station. Take any train, change at Brussels North for a train to Namur. Belgium's other international airport, Brussels-South, is located in Charleroi, at 40 km/25 miles from Brussels city and operates low cost airlines. Flight schedules for departures and arrivals are available at www.charleroi-airport.com. In the airport you can buy a ticket which covers a journey in a TEC bus (from the airport to Charleroi-Sud train station) and a train journey (from Charleroi-Sud to any station in Belgium). You can find the full itinerary (bus + train) on http://www.belgianrail.be/en/Default.aspx.
By car
University parkings are only for staff members. One of them (located rue Henri Lemaître) is accessible if you have a guest card. Otherwise you will have to park in the city (neither free nor cheap). For those interested, the city of Namur has opened a park and ride area along the river Meuse. You can leave your car over there and take a bus shuttle to the center of the city
By bus
The regional public transport authority TEC has a web site that allows you to gather information about timetables and fares.
