Dinant
About this Place
Dinant is a small Walloon city in the province of Namur, dramatically situated between the River Meuse and steep limestone cliffs. Its distinctive skyline is formed by the onion-domed Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame and the Citadel, which stands on a rocky outcrop more than 100 metres above the river. Dinant prospered during the Middle Ages through river trade and its skilled copper workers, whose craft became known as dinanderie.
For the Museum, Dinant is particularly significant as the home of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Leffe. The Premonstratensian abbey was founded in the twelfth century and acquired a brewery in 1240. Although today’s Leffe beers are produced commercially by AB InBev, their identity remains closely associated with the abbey and with Dinant.
Visitor notes
The riverside view towards the Collegiate Church and Citadel is one of the most recognisable townscapes in Belgium. Dinant is also the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, whose presence is celebrated throughout the town. The Citadel recounts Dinant’s often violent history, including its destruction in 1466 and the killing of 674 civilians during the German invasion in August 1914.