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Signal de Botrange

Highest points of countriesMountains and hills of Liège ProvinceMountains and hills of the Ardennes (Belgium)Mountains and hills of the EifelMountains under 1000 metres
Towers in BelgiumWaimes
Belgium, Botrange, Monument
Belgium, Botrange, Monument

Signal de Botrange is the highest point in Wallonia and in Belgium, located in the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes in French, Hohes Venn in German, Hoge Venen in Dutch), at 694 metres (2,277 feet). It is the top of a broad plateau and a road crosses the summit, passing an adjacent café. It is also the highest point in the Ardennes and in the European part of the Benelux. For several decades a meteorological station was installed at signal de Botrange. Since 1999, it was replaced by an automatic station of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium installed on Mount Rigi (scientific station of the High Fens - University of Liège), which is between the Signal and Baraque Michel which was formerly the highest point in Belgium prior to the annexation of the Eastern Cantons in 1919. Signal de Botrange experiences stronger winds than the centre of Belgium. Average and extreme temperatures are usually lower than at any other place in Belgium: the minimum temperature recorded (−25.6 °C [−14.1 °F]) does not, however, exceed the absolute record (−30.1 °C [−22.2 °F]), observed in the valley of the Lomme, at Rochefort during a temperature inversion. In winter, for three months, on average, the average temperature remains below 0 °C (32 °F). Rainfall is much greater than most of the rest of the country, at an annual average of 1,450 mm (57 in) compared with 800 mm (31 in) in Uccle: there are over 200 days of precipitation per year (against just over 170 in Uccle). Maximum temperatures in summer rarely exceed 30 °C (86 °F). The number of days of frost is over 130 days per year and the number of days of snowfall exceeds 35 days. The maximum thickness of snow was measured on 9 February 1953, at 115 cm (45 in) of snow. Frost and early snowfall can occur in late September, but that is exceptional. Late snow may sometimes occur until mid-May.At the height of winter the site is used as the start of a number of cross-country skiing routes.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Signal de Botrange (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Signal de Botrange
Rue de Botrange, Waimes

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Wikipedia: Signal de BotrangeContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.501666666667 ° E 6.0927777777778 °
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Signal de Botrange

Rue de Botrange
4950 Waimes
Liège, Belgium
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Belgium, Botrange, Monument
Belgium, Botrange, Monument
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Reinhardstein Castle
Reinhardstein Castle

Reinhardstein Castle (Walloon: Tchestea di Rénastène; French: Château de Reinhardstein; German: Burg Reinhardstein) is a castle of Wallonia in the village of Ovifat, in the Warche valley of Liège Province, Belgium. The stronghold was built in 1354 for Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, while still Count, by his vassal Reinhard of Weismes. It sits on a rocky outcrop in the river valley and is now surrounded by forest. By inheritance and marriage, it passed successively into the hands of the Nesselrode, Nassau, Schwartzenberg families and finally from 1550 to 1812 the property of the Counts of Metternich, except between 1795 and 1798 when the French revolutionary administration confiscated it. Franz Georg Karl Count of Metternich-Winnenburg-Beilstein sold the family estate in 1812 to a building materials dealer. From 1815 to 1919 the area belonged to Prussia. The Prussian administration immediately halted the demolition and attempted for the first time to protect the monument. After the Treaty of Versailles (1919) it became Belgian territory. In the 19th century it was nearly destroyed by quarrying but in 1969 the castle was thoroughly renovated under the impulse of the new owner Professor Jean Overloop. After the reconstruction, he continued to live there until his death in 1994. His wife and daughter, who inherited the castle after his death, donated it to a non-profit organization. The castle is inhabited but accessible to tourists. There is also a picturesque walking route along the castle.