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Quaregnon route

Touring cyclist in Quaregnon
17.8 km
Touring cyclist
2h
Medium
  • As you explore the Borinage, Quaregnon will undoubtedly leave an indelible impression on you, so rich is the city’s history. Marked profoundly by its industrial history and mining operations, it still retains traces of its past activities. Its hiking trails over slag heaps, its town hall, its cultural events and its local produce are of course included in that. Quaregnon will amaze you with its diversity!
  • Difference in height
    123.06 m
  • Documentation
    GPX / KML files allow you to export the trail of your hike to your GPS (or other navigation tool)
Points of interest
1 Quaregnon Grand-Place
The Town Hall!

Inaugurated on 11 September 1938 in the presence of Mr Achille Delattre, Minister of Labour, the Town Hall opened its doors to the public on 16 April 1939. In December 1978, the works of Fernand Allard, an Africanist painter and illustrator, were set up there. His magnificent frescoes, which focus on workers’ struggles and their employment and leisures, are exhibited in the entrance of the Town Hall, as well as in the Allard l'Olivier room. A must-see! It was here that the Quaregnon Charter was signed in 1894, a declaration of principles adopted by the Belgian Workers Party, the forebear of the Belgian Socialist Party!

Saint-Quentin tower!

A vestige of the first Saint-Quentin church built out of stone. The tower was saved when the old religious complex was removed in the middle of the 18th century. The new building, incorporating the former tower, was destroyed again in 1922... While in 1929, a monument to the dead, the work of Georges Wasterlain, was attached to one of its faces. It too would be replaced. It should be noted that since 2008, the new town square has retained the marks of the past by restoring in its paving the layout of the 15th century church, from the same era as Saint-Quentin tower!

The Florent Mathieu roundabout!

1948... the Borains remember Florent Mathieu. The racing cyclist was supported by the whole of the Borinage: he was their pride. That year, the route passed through the main road of Quaregnon. A big crowd was out to encourage him. Other cyclists had even let him take the lead, receiving an ovation, applause and cheering, and finally taking the victory... Pride of the Borinage and the Borains, he participated in several tours de France races. For years afterwards, people still met with him in his café in Quaregnon to talk about his memories and remember his proud moments!
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2 Cultural centre
Since its foundation in 1991, the cultural centre (Maison Culturelle) of Quaregnon has combined arts and culture. Throughout the year, it offers a large number of artistic and creative activities while organising various events revolving around music, theatre, painting, photography, and more. Typically Art Deco in its design and its use of materials, this former bourgeois home is one of the main works of architect Mathieu Pigeolet. It was built in 1932 for the Masse family.
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3 Monument to the miners
The work of Francisco Libonatti, an Italian minor who attended courses at Mons Academy of Fine Arts, was inaugurated in September 1958. Dedicated to miners of all countries, the monument is located along the road to Mons in Valenciennes, near Cité Astrid, at the intersection of rue Destrée and Avenue du Travail, on a monumental platform embellished with stone bas-reliefs reproducing work scenes at the mine. At 2.4 m high and weighing 500 kg, the statue has been refurbished with blue stone by Michel Ovart, a stonemason from Roisin.
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4 Notre-Dame de Lourdes grotto
It was Charles Mahieu, parish priest from 1901 to 1934 in the hamlet of Monsville, south of Quaregnon, who had the idea of endowing this district with a place of worship and having it erected in the parish. The idea started with the construction of a wooden church and a “permanent” church, before building an exact replica of the Lourdes grotto. Inaugurated on 16 August 1903, it is visited in droves by prayerful pilgrims each year, in particular on the second Sunday of September.
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5 The Saint-Félix slag heap and its Q-Bike, rue L. Blanqui
Located in the heart of the agglomeration of Quaregnon south, the Saint-Félix slag heap extends over an area of 5.7 ha. Used for the recovery of coal, then abandoned in the mid-1970s, it was occupied by wooden barracks that were originally used to house German prisoners before welcoming immigrant workers. The heap’s many bumps were transformed into Q-Bike with a 1.8 km mountain bike track and a BMX circuit in line with international standards. A walking path and a picnic area complement the natural site.
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6 Fief de Lambrechies
During your visit to Quaregnon, you’ll probably hear about the mining disaster of Fief de Lambrechies. The former coal mine experienced two days of terror on 15 and 17 May 1934, when 57 miners lost their lives in two tragic firedamp explosions. Of the 57 bodies, 32 have never been found, and are still buried at the bottom of the old mine. Today, a memorial is erected to honour the memory and work of the miners, an asset to the Borinage and Belgium.
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7 Cosmopolitan city
The cosmopolitan city was built between 1925 and 1930, at the initiative of public-limited company Charbonnages du Hainaut. Created for workers of the Espérance site, it has been renovated since its creation to bring comfort and modernity to its inhabitants. For the record, in the late 1940s there was no running water in the city’s homes. A water tower provided water for the pumps that were outside. If a bucket of water was needed, people would go outside. Each family had the key to the premises, they went in and they pumped. The city was a village within the village.
8 Kiosque
Built in 1930 by the blacksmith A. Wattiez and the entrepreneur V. Piérard, it regularly hosted the Royale Fanfare Communale and other companies for concerts much appreciated by the population. It was restored in 1993 and is still the focus of the “burning Malbrough” festivities at the September Ducasse festival.
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9 Maison du Peuple
In addition to the old farms, Quaregnon owns aristocratic homes, so-called “industrial castles” but also its Maison du Peuple (House of the People). Today, all testify to the history of the city, which turned into an industrial settlement. The former Maison du Peuple, an Art Nouveau building inaugurated on 19 June 1921, was a real meeting place. It had several meeting rooms, a café, a dance hall but also a cinema, a theatre, a bakery and a socialist union. The “former Maison” would soon become the new “Maison des Associations” (Club House).
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123 meters of difference in height
  • Start altitude : 32 m
  • End altitude : 33 m
  • Maximum altitude : 103 m
  • Minimum altitude : 25 m
  • Total positive elevation : 123 m
  • Total negative elevation : -122 m
  • Max positive elevation : 20 m
  • Min positive elevation : -33 m