Braine-le-Comte railway station

Braine-le-Comte (French: [bʁɛn lə kɔ̃t] ; Walloon: Brinne-e-Hinnot; Dutch: 's-Gravenbrakel [ˈsxraːvə(m)ˌbraːkəl] ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is 84.68 square kilometres (32.70 sq mi) which gives a population density of 260 inhabitants per km2. The municipality consists of the following districts: Braine-le-Comte, Hennuyères, Henripont, Petit-Rœulx-lez-Braine, Ronquières, and Steenkerque. The Ronquières inclined plane at the Canal du Centre is in the municipality of Braine-Le Comte.

The Arrondissement of Soignies (French: Arrondissement de Soignies; Dutch: Arrondissement Zinnik) is one of the seven administrative arrondissements in the Walloon province of Hainaut, Belgium. The Arrondissement of Soignies consists of the following municipalities: Since 2019 Braine-le-Comte Écaussinnes Le Rœulx Manage Soignies Seneffe Before 2019 Braine-le-Comte Écaussinnes Enghien La Louvière Le Roeulx Lessines Silly Soignies The municipalities of Enghien, Lessines and Silly are transferred on January 1, 2019 to the Arrondissement of Ath while the municipalities of Manage and Seneffe from the Arrondissement of Charleroi are integrated on the same date into the Arrondissement of Soignies. La Louvière is detached from the Arrondissement on the same date to create the new Arrondissement of La Louvière.

Rebecq (French pronunciation: [ʁəbɛk]; Walloon: Ribek) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 10,241 inhabitants. The total area is 39.08 km2, giving a population density of 262 inhabitants per km2. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bierghes, Rebecq-Rognon, and Quenast.

Écaussinnes-Lalaing Castle (French: Château d'Écaussinnes-Lalaing) is a castle in the village of Écaussinnes-Lalaing in the municipality of Écaussinnes in the province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium.

Écaussinnes (French pronunciation: [ekosin]; Picard: Les Scassenes; Walloon: Les Scåssenes) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2018 Écaussinnes had a total population of 11,135. The total area is 34.77 km2 which gives a population density of 320 inhabitants per km2. The municipality consists of the following districts: Écaussinnes-d'Enghien, Écaussinnes-Lalaing, and Marche-lez-Écaussinnes. The city hosts the "Oberbayern" Festival each year in August, and hosted the Spring Blues Festival from 1988 to 2013.

The Quenast quarry (French: Carrière de Quenast) or Porphyry quarries of Quenast is a historic porphyry deposit in Belgium and Europe's largest open-pit quarry. Porphyry has been mined from the quarry as an important source for construction since the 17th century and was traditionally used to make Belgian cobblestones for city streets.

The Lefebvre Brewery in Quenast, Wallonia, Belgium, was founded in 1876 by Jules Lefebvre. It produces a range of beers including Barbar, an 8% abv strong pale ale containing honey, and the Floreffe brand of abbey beers.

The Battle of Steenkerque, also known as Steenkerke, Steenkirk, Steynkirk or Steinkirk was fought on 3 August 1692, during the Nine Years' War, near Steenkerque, then part of the Spanish Netherlands but now in modern Belgium. A French force under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, repulsed a surprise attack by an Allied army led by William of Orange. After several hours of heavy fighting, the Allies were forced to retreat, although a French counterattack proved fruitless.

Steenkerque (French pronunciation: [stɛ̃kɛʁk]; Dutch: Steenkerke; in older English references also Steenkerke, Steenkirk, Steinkerque, Steinkerke or Steinkirk; Walloon: Stinkerke) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Braine-le-Comte, located in Hainaut Province, Belgium, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-west of Brussels and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Enghien. Steenkerque is notable for the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692 during the Nine Years' War, when France defeated a joint English-Scottish-Dutch-German army. The French movie The African Doctor (in French Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont) was shot in this village in 2015. The 2019 Tour de France began in Brussels and passed through Steenkerque, then home to "500 âmes, à peine!" ("500 souls, barely!").

Ronquières (Walloon: Ronkière) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Braine-le-Comte, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is best known as the location of the Ronquières inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal. The lower end of the inclined plane is just a few hundred metres from the centre of the village. The population of the village was 1370 as of January 2006.

The Ronquières Inclined Plane is a canal inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal in the province of Hainaut in Wallonia, Belgium. It opened in April 1968 having taken six years to build. It is in the municipality of Braine-le-Comte and takes its name from the nearby village of Ronquières. The plane was built to reduce the delays imposed by the 14 locks (already reduced from 16 in the 19th century) that had hitherto been needed for the canal to follow the local topography.

The Brussels–Charleroi Canal (French: Canal Bruxelles-Charleroi, Dutch: Kanaal Brussel-Charleroi), also known as the Charleroi Canal amongst other similar names, is an important canal in Belgium. The canal is quite large, with a Class IV Freycinet gauge, and its Walloon portion is 47.9 kilometres (29.8 mi) long. It runs from Charleroi (Wallonia) in the south to Brussels in the north. The canal is part of a north–south axis of water transport in Belgium, whereby the north of France (via the Canal du Centre) including Lille and Dunkirk and important waterways in the south of Belgium including the Sambre valley and the sillon industriel are linked to the port of Antwerp in the north, via the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal, which meets the Brussels–Charleroi Canal at the Sainctelette area of Brussels. The Ronquières inclined plane is the canal's most remarkable feature and a tourist site.