Chièvres

The Basilica of Our Lady of Tongre (French: Basilique de Notre Dame de Tongre) is a Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica in Tongre-Notre-Dame, Chièvres, Belgium. The shrine is small, yet rich in historical significance. The shrine is known for its medieval seated image of the Madonna and Child, along with its collection of various jewels donated by pilgrims, including Belgian royalty. The image was granted a canonical coronation in an apostolic brief by Pope Leo XIII on 8 September 1881, with the coronation carried out by Bishop Isidore-Joseph du Rousseaux. The image is not the same as that of Our Lady of Tongeren, Virgin of Joy, that was canonically crowned by Leo XIII in 1890 at the Basilica of Our Lady, Tongeren.

Ath (French pronunciation: [at] ; Dutch: Aat, Dutch pronunciation: [aːt] ; Picard: Ât; Walloon: Ate) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Arbre, Ath, Bouvignies, Ghislenghien, Gibecq, Houtaing, Irchonwelz, Isières, Lanquesaint, Ligne, Maffle, Mainvault, Meslin-l'Évêque, Moulbaix, Ormeignies, Ostiches, Rebaix, Villers-Notre-Dame, and Villers-Saint-Amand. Ath is known as the "City of Giants" after the Ducasse d'Ath festivities which take place every year on the fourth weekend in August. Huge figures representing Goliath, Samson, and other allegoric figures are paraded through the streets, and Goliath's wedding and his famous fight with David are re-enacted. Ath is the point of origin of the river Dender from the merger of its Eastern and Western branches.

The siege of Ath (15 May 1697 – 5 June 1697) was a siege of the Nine Years' War. The French stockpiled 266,000 French pounds of gunpowder for the siege and used less than half of it. Consumption of other material amounted to 34,000 pounds of lead, 27,050 cannonballs, 3,400 mortar bombs, 950 grenades and 12,000 sandbags. The financial costs were 89,250 French livres. After the garrison's capitulation, 6,000 peasant workers filled up the trenches. Of the 62 French engineers present, two were killed and seven seriously wounded. This demonstration of French military potency, combined with the successful storming of Barcelona the same year, convinced the Allies to come to terms with France in the treaty of Ryswick, thus ending the war.The siege was hailed by contemporaries as Vauban's masterpiece and the most efficient siege ever conducted, owing to its speed, low costs and the modernity of the eight-bastion fortress, which had been designed by Vauban himself 25 years earlier.

Ormeignies is a village of Wallonia and district of the municipality of Ath, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has an ancient history. Farmers in Neolithic time were settled there, as far back as 4000 BC. The village church, dedicated to Saint Ursmer and built from stone and brick c.1780, is a good example of neo-classical architecture.

The Arrondissement of Ath (French: Arrondissement d'Ath; Dutch: Arrondissement Aat) is one of the seven administrative arrondissements in the Walloon province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is not a judicial arrondissement. Two of its municipalities, Brugelette and Chièvres, are part of the Judicial Arrondissement of Mons, while the others are part of the Judicial Arrondissement of Tournai.

The Château de Belœil is a château situated in the municipality of Belœil in the province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium. It serves as the main residence of the princes of Ligne. The château lies in the middle of a Baroque garden designed in 1664. The château and gardens can be visited during spring and summer.

Ath/Isières Airfield (ICAO: EBIS) is a private ultralight aviation field, located near the Walloon city of Ath, Hainaut, Belgium. Like most small aerodromes in Belgium it welcomes visitors, but prior permission is legally required.

Belœil (French pronunciation: [bɛlœj]; Picard: Baileul; Walloon: Beleul) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is around 10 km south of Ath. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 13,347 inhabitants. The total area is 61.55 km², giving a population density of 217 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following districts: Aubechies, Basècles, Belœil, Ellignies-Sainte-Anne, Grandglise, Quevaucamps, Ramegnies, Stambruges, Thumaide, and Wadelincourt. The municipality is named after the château of Belœil, once the seat of Charles-Joseph, Prince of Ligne, a military officer and man of letters who corresponded with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire.

The Ghislenghien disaster was an explosion of a natural gas pipeline in Ghislenghien (a village in the municipality of Ath, Belgium) on July 30, 2004. It was caused by a natural gas leak resulting from by damage from a construction vehicle. The explosion and fire killed 24 people (primarily first responders) and injured 132. It was the worst industrial disaster in Belgium since the 1956 Marcinelle mining disaster and is one of the worst peacetime disasters in the country's history. The disaster led to a reform of the civil security service in Belgium.

La Berlière Castle (French: Château de la Berlière) is a castle in Houtaing in Ath, province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium. Hainaut is a province of Belgium in the Walloon region a historical county.