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The Town Hall in the glorious Gothic Grand-Place in Mons.
Historic Mons (Bergen in Flemish) is the capital of French-speaking Wallonia in the southwest of Belgium and buts up against the French border. 2015 brings exciting times to this handsome little city as it takes on the mantle of European Capital of Culture.
With Roman origins, Mons grew wealthy through during the Industrial Revolution thanks to its underground flint and coal reserves. It has one of the finest public squares in Belgium in its fountain-filled Grand-Place, a masterpiece of architecture dating from medieval times onwards; it’s the perfect spot to enjoy a coffee before starting an exploration of the city’s historic heart. The piazza’s centerpiece is the 15th-century Gothic Mons Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), topped with an unusual bronze bell tower and displaying priceless antique tapestries in its stately apartments.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts Mons is just off the Grand-Place and has a collection of local paintings and sculpture but is more often visited for its big-name temporary exhibitions, which currently feature Van Gogh as part of his 125th anniversary celebrations. Climbing up and away from the Grand-Place, the Baroque Belfry is UNESCO listed for its ornate 87 m (270 ft) tower on the square du Château. Opposite the Belfry is the oldest structure in town: the Chapelle St-Calixte dates from 1051 and has a tiny museum containing relics of crumbling statuary.
Just below the Belfry is the Collégiale Sainte-Waudru (Collegiate Church of St Waltrude), built in the 14th century in flamboyant Brabant-Gothic form; inside it is crammed with 16th-century sculptures and wooden wall carvings by Mons artist Jacques Du Brœucq (1505–84), 16th-century stained-glass windows and a treasury stuffed with gold chalices, monstrances and vestments.
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs François Duesberg is opposite St Waltrude and is arguably the town’s best museum, with impressive displays of decorative arts from priceless clocks to Meissen porcelain and delicate glassware.
Around Mons is a cluster of sights to discover, from the ‘Versailles of Belgium’ at Château de Beloeil to the model social housing at Grand-Hornu, built by a wealthy benefactor during the Industrial Revolution, and not forgetting the bleak miners’ cottage where Van Gogh lived at Cuesmes for a year; a new exhibition has been installed there for the 2015 Capital of Culture celebration.
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