Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin Explained

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 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.

Landmarks

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

The Tiège windmill

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).

The centre of Belgium

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.It is located at coordinates 50.6411°N 4.6681°W.[4]

External links

50.639°N 4.6726°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Histoire de Nil-Saint-Vincent . French . 2007-03-09 . Municipality of Walhain . https://web.archive.org/web/20070319032150/http://www.walhain.be/template.asp?mc=2&smc=6&ssmc=12&smenuc=Nil-Saint-Vincent&tmp=4&m=2&sm=6 . 2007-03-19.
  2. Sign seen next to the windmill (See Moulin Du Tiège sign photo)
  3. Web site: Centre géographique - Le Site . French . Municipality of Walhain . 2007-03-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070514215855/http://www.walhain.be/template.asp?m=2&sm=3&smenu=Centre+g%E9ographique&tmp=4 . 2007-05-14.
  4. Web site: Center Cache . 2007-03-09.