Fleurus

Fleurus
Municipality
Coat of arms
Fleurus Location in Belgium
Location of Fleurus in Hainaut
Coordinates: 50°29′N 04°32′E / 50.483°N 4.533°ECoordinates: 50°29′N 04°32′E / 50.483°N 4.533°E
Country	Belgium
Community	French Community
Region	Wallonia
Province	Hainaut
Arrondissement	Charleroi
Government
• Mayor	Jean-Luc Borremans
• Governing party/ies	PS
Area
• Total	59.28 km^2 (22.89 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)[1]
• Total	22,802
• Density	380/km^2 (1,000/sq mi)
Postal codes	6220-6224
Area codes	071
Website	www.fleurus.be

Fleurus (French pronunciation: ​[flœ.ʁys]; Walloon: Fleuru) is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. It has been the site of four major battles.

Villages

Fleurus has seven villages:

• Brye (wa: Briye) - Postal code: 6222
• Heppignies (wa: Epniye)
• Lambusart (wa: Lambussåt)
• Saint-Amand (wa: Sint-Amand)
• Wagnelée (wa: Wagnlêye)
• Wanfercée-Baulet (wa: Wanfercêye-Bålet)
• Wangenies (wa: Wanjniye)

History

Traces of agriculture dating back to the Neolithic Age were found in area known as Fleurjoux and Neuve Baraque. During the Roman times, construction of roads like the (chaussée Brunehaut between Bavay and Cologne).

In October 1155, Henry IV of Luxembourg, also Count of Namur enfranchised the municipality which became the city of Fleurus. Henry IV had a castle in Heppignies.

The town has given its name to three battles fought in the area :

• The Battle of Fleurus (1622) in the Thirty Years' War.
• The Battle of Fleurus (1690) in the Nine Years' War.
• The Battle of Fleurus (1794) in the French Revolutionary Wars.

Two days before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 Napoleon I defeated the Prussians in what is known as the Battle of Ligny, although the pivotal action took place just north of Fleurus.

The battles have been commemorated in ship names of the countries involved, which in turn has led to Fleurus Island in Antarctica being named after SS Fleurus,^[2] a Norwegian trawler operated by the Falkland Islands in the 1920s. Rue de Fleurus is on the Left Bank in Paris.

In World War II, the only fighting near Fleurus was a tank battle southwest of the town at Vieux Campinaire in September 1944.

0.1 km² (24.71 acres) was added to the municipality's area in the early 2000s.

Economy

Children's publisher Proost is a major local employer. The Institut national des radioéléments produces radioactive isotopes for medical use.

Historical population

Year	Population	Density	Area
January 2002	22,324 (10,626 males and 11,698 females)	377.22/km²	59.18 km²
January 2004	22,209 (10,619 males, 11,590 females)	374.64/km²	59.28 km²

References

1. Population per municipality as of 1 January 2016 (XLS; 397 KB)
2. "Fleurus Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 3 December 2013.

External links

• Media related to Fleurus at Wikimedia Commons