Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin

Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin (Walloon: ) is a Belgian village and district of the municipality of Walhain, Wallonia in the province of Walloon Brabant.

The church of Saint Vincent

The villages of Nil-Saint-Vincent and Nil-Saint-Martin were merged in 1812.[1] 'Nil' is the name of a small river, along whose valley the various areas of settlement (Nil-Pierreux, Nil-Saint-Vincent, Nil-Saint-Martin) lie.

Tiège windmill

Landmarks edit

Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin has several notable landmarks.

The Tiège windmill edit

The Tiège windmill was built in 1834 by the Thienpont family. It was used until 23 June 1946[2] and today is a listed building (monument classé).

 
Monument at the geographical centre of Belgium

The centre of Belgium edit

The Institut Géographique National, the Belgian national cartographical service, calculated that the geographical centre of Belgium lay in Nil-Saint-Vincent.[3] The architect Bernard Defrenne built a monument for this location, which was inaugurated on 22 August 1998.[3] It is located at coordinates 50°38′28″N 4°40′05″E / 50.64111°N 4.66806°E / 50.64111; 4.66806 (Geographical centre of Belgium).[4]

References edit

  1. ^ "Histoire de Nil-Saint-Vincent" (in French). Municipality of Walhain. Archived from the original on 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  2. ^ Sign seen next to the windmill (See Moulin Du Tiège sign photo)
  3. ^ a b "Centre géographique - Le Site" (in French). Municipality of Walhain. Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  4. ^ "Center Cache". Retrieved 2007-03-09.

External links edit

50°38′21″N 4°40′21″E / 50.639037°N 4.67258°E / 50.639037; 4.67258