Charleroi Sights and Landmarks Guide, Belgium

Charleroi, a city in southwestern Belgium has many things to offer visitors coming here to see as many interesting things as they can.

Charleroi Sights– Churches, Old Houses and Statues.

Among the best sites that are worth visiting are: churches, museums and art galleries, remarkable old houses and statues of important people for the city not to mention the incredible and beautiful architecture reminding tourists of the prosperous industrial period along the history.

You can find out the particularities of the civil architecture best represented in The South Station, the Post Office, the Town Hall, the Fine Arts Palace or The Exhibition Centre.

Constantin Meunier was a brilliant, innovative sculptor who created the statues of “The Miner” or ‘The Steelworker” bringing his creative support at the construction of “King Baudouin Bridge” too.

“Marcinelle” is a small village near Charleroi, “the comic strip centre “of Belgium. Therefore, statues of “comic strip celebrities” are placed on the main touristic locations in the city. Such a statue may be found at the entrance of Astrid Park called “Lucky Luke” statue. Another important one is that of Jules Destree, a great lawyer, journalist and statesman from Charleroi, whose life and work is presented in a museum dedicated to him and bearing his name.

The “Gilded House” or those situated on 40Rue Bernus and &Bd Solvay are mainly visited for the architecture, the first two being built in Art Nouveau style while the last one built in 1920 modern style.

People who are interested in churches and want to take some beautiful pictures of them should take a close look at The Protestant Church from the 19th century, the 17th century Chapel of St. Fiacre, or at the renovated Basilica of St. Christophe.

Charleroi, sights – Museums and Art Galleries

The Gallery le Bois du Cazier is a major cultural site in the region, being located in the south of Charleroi.

Among Charleroi sights, there is a remarkable complex in the middle of the nature, a coal, steel and glass museum. It has three sections: one of them reminds visitors of the terrible mining disaster of August 1956 when 262 miners of different twelve nationalities died.

The second one refers to a glass collection that impresses visitors with real glass works from past till present times, while the third section is dedicated to the industries of iron, steel, glass, metalwork, mechanical and electrical constructions, steam engine presses, a metal rolling mill or to the electrical 1904 tramway. There is also a memorial lane, an observatory and several workshops where metal and glass are greatly mastered.

Visitors are encouraged to go to the Place du Manege and see the Palace of Fine Arts, which hosts a concert and a theatre hall. Many social events such as expositions, concerts, conferences and others also take place frequently at “Palace of expositions” that you will find descending l’Avenue de l”Europe.

“The Town Hall” is a neo-classicist piece of art dating from 1936 and housing nowadays the “Fine Arts Museum” (exhibiting the works of some artists from Charleroi and the whole region of Hainaut) and the “Destree Museum” (that presents the life and work of a famous local man with the same name). It is situated in the upper town, on Place Charles II where tourists must also visit a 17th century basilica built in baroque style.

The “Museum of Photography” situated in Mont-sur-Marchienne exhibits an impressive collection of original pictures, a library and a documentation centre.

The “Glass Museum”, as its name says, presents the whole history of glass and the ingredients of the glass making process.

Its annex is called “The Archaeological Museum” and it exhibits collections from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

Charleroi Sights – Beauties of Nature and Leisure Time

“Val de Sambre” is on the Charleroi sights list too, being placed near the ruins of the Abbey of Aulne. It invites travelers to charming walks along the Sambre Valley.

It’s also considered a semi-natural park that encourages people to relax and feel good. It contains a flat slagheap, a greenery theatre on another slagheap, being in the meantime a unique place dedicated to the victims of the miner disaster of 1956. It’s quite impressive as there are planted twelve different species of trees from twelve different countries, each one standing for a man who lost his life in the tragedy. The highest slagheap can be seen by walking on an aerial footbridge. Up there, there is the landscape observatory which offers an incredible view of the entire region.

If you like to admire natural beauties, there are a lot of caves surrounding the city and they are well worth a visit once you get there. Another magnificent touristic attraction is given by a natural preserved place called “Les lacs de L’eau D’Heure” which is heaven for those who enjoy water sport activities and natural landscape at its best. It’s the largest water complex in Belgium and it invites water lovers to fishing, swimming, playing beach volley or mini golf, not to mention that it has an amazing aqua centre, an ideal place for families with children and a park for recreation, too.

The entire complex has a lot to offer to its visitors who also like and need to do some shopping in an environmentally friendly location. Several facilities are provided for tourists such as: souvenir boutiques, information offices, medical assistance, barbeque arrangements, trip organizers, safe and security assistance or restaurants with great food and beautiful view over the lake.

In conclusion, one may point out that Charleroi sights are worth being visited and with such an impressive list of beauties, museums, churches and old buildings, Charleroi is declared to be among the most visited cities together with Brussels and Rotterdam.