The Commune of Bièvre and its 12 picturesque and peaceful villages lies on the Ardennes plateau at a height of 348 metres in the south of the province of Namur in Belgium. It lies between two valleys : on the south, the valley of the Semois river and on the east the valley of the Lesse river, which both attract a lot of tourists. It lies halfway on the main road between Beauraing (a pilgrim place) and Bouillon, a tourist resort on the river Semois, well-known for its middle age castle, Godefroid de Bouillon and the cruisades
It is also 45 kilometres south of Dinant, another tourist
resort on the river Meuse, famous for its citadel and its Rocher (rock)
Bayard. Not far from here
you have Rochefort and Han-sur-Lesse with its world-famous caves and a
park with local wild animals.
The village gets its name from the animal beaver (castor in French which comes from beaver in Gallic).
That is why you can find the animal on the coat of arms
and on the seal of the commune. You will also find the beaver symbol
on the weather vane on the top of the Town Hall.
You can vieuw the maps of the differents villages : Baillamont, Bellefontaine, Bièvre, Cornimont, Graide (Village), Graide (Station), Gros-Fays, Monceau-en-Ardenne, Naomé, Oizy, Petit-Fays et Six-Planes.
Bièvre is famous for, and very proud of, its new and wonderful Town Hall and cultural centre. The building used to be a hunting lodge and the cultural centre was the stables for horses and hunting dogs.
The commune has a rich architectural heritage. Four sights are scheduled as historic monuments: the Fontaine St Furcy in Bellefontaine (meaning lovely fountain), the tower of the St Denis Church and the Holy Chapel in Oizy. The old lavoirs, washhouses or washtubs in the middle of the villages, where women used to do the washing, the abreuvoirs, large round or rectangular tubs where the cattle used to drink before returning to the stable or after leaving it in the morning. Its old moulins, watermills where the grain was ground and its houses in the Ardennes style, stone country houses with slated roofs, which used to be farms.
Known as a rural commune of Europe, Bièvre heritage and its villages are really worth a visit.
See " Tourisme"
You can read the names of all the twinned villages on the board at the entrance to all the villages of the commune. This twinning is unique in Europe and it has been awarded twice the Golden Stars of Twinning. The Charter has its own website which makes it easy for the different members to communicate. Every year, in the summer, a country organises a big meeting and invites 10 people from each twinned town. People get to know each other and discover other villages abroad in a different way. In autumn a mayor's meeting is held in another country. Besides these official meetings, other activities are organised: exchanges between primary schools, teachers, students, families, ….
To See: the officiel site of the Charter of European Rural Communities :
See the list of communes adhering to the charter
=>
updated : 18/03/05 See the list of "Commerçants et Indépendants"
While walking or driving around you will pass the lovely and peaceful villages each very different with its church or a chapel in the centre and old typical country houses which used to be farms.
In Bièvre you can find all the things you need. There are many shops: boutiques, flower shops, a bookshop, a few hairdressers, bakers and butchers, cafés, restaurants, building supplies, petrol stations, garages, chemists and doctors. Bièvre has also a home for elderly people.
Five villages have local primary schools where children go from the age of two and a half until eleven. After that all the students go to secondary schools by bus or by train to towns in the area.
There is also a railway station. Bièvre (Graide-Station) lies on an important railway line especially for the transport of goods.
In the commune, people have a wide choice of activities to practise in their free time. There are four football clubs in the whole commune and young children can start playing in the clubs when they are six years old in a diablotins team, diablotin meaning little devil. This refers to the Belgian national team les Diables Rouges or red devils.
If you don't like football you can practise tennis, table
tennis, horse-riding, mountain biking, gym, judo, paintball, ….
There is also an Art Schools where children and adults can learn how to
paint and sculpt. A local theatre group also performs plays in French
and Walloon once a year.
Responsible Editor : The Autorities of Bièvre
On line since the 01/11/01.
Site officiel réalisé par Léonet - Informatique © Commune de Bièvre
