the encyclopedic entry of Huy

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Huy

Huy, Du. Hoie, commune (1991 pop. 18,197), Liège prov., E Belgium, on the Meuse River; founded in the 9th cent. Huy produces paper, pottery, pewter, and machinery; grains are grown in nearby fields. Below the citadel (19th cent.; now a military depot and a prison), which dominates the town, is a Gothic abbatial church (14th-15th cent.).

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Huy

Huy (Walloon: Hu; French: Huy, Dutch: Hoei) is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of the Walloon population. The Huy municipality includes the old communes of Ben-Ahin and Tihange.

History

The first village originated around the Roman castrum, an early fort located on the right bank of the River Meuse. The village was evangelized by Saint Domitian, Bishop of Tongeren, in the 6th century and it is mentioned for the first time in a 7th century testament.

In the early Middle Ages, Huy was one of the most prosperous cities on the Meuse, with a flourishing economy based mostly on metallurgy, but also on tanning, sculpting, woodworking, and winemaking. In the 10th century, Huy was promoted to county status, but soon became part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, with which it would share its history for more than eight centuries. Huy was the recipient of the first historically known charter north of the Alps, confirming it as a city in 1066. It is around that time that Peter the Hermit harangued the locals and persuaded them to participate in the First Crusade.

In the 13th and 14th century, the economy boomed thanks to the cloth industry. The castle was occasionally used in times of war and strengthened accordingly. By the 15th century, it had become the symbol of the city. The following two centuries, however, witnessed a gradual decline in the city’s fortunes, due in large part to the strategic value of its location on the Meuse. In the latter part of the 17th century, Louis XIV’s wars caused the city to be repeatedly attacked and put to the sword, to the point that the frustrated inhabitants dismantled their own castle, source of their miseries, in 1715.

A new fort was built by the Dutch in 1818. It was a strategic defensive position, especially during the heavy fighting that took place during two world wars. The 19th century was a period of great prosperity based on the paper and other industries. The decline of heavy industry in the 20th century was felt here too. Today, the city is rebounding, thanks in part to its tin products and tourist activity.

Sights

The four “wonders” of Huy are

Li Bassinia, the 15th-century fountain that stands in the middle of the Grand Place,
Li Tchestia, the 1818 castle that dominates the city,
Li Rondia, the rose window of the Gothic-style Notre-Dame collegiate church, and
Li Pontia, the bridge over the River Meuse.

Huy is also home to the finish of the famous Flèche Wallonne (English: Walloon Arrow; Dutch: Waalse Pijl) one-day professional cycling race held midweek in mid-April. The races traverses, and finishes at the summit of the Mur de Huy (English: Wall of Huy), a climb of about 1km with an average gradient near 10%, with sections of 20%.

Folklore

Every seven years, a religious procession takes place in the so-called “septennial festivities” in commemoration of the end of a drought in 1656. The last one took place on August 15, 2005.