Andenne

Andenne is a city in Belgium located in the Walloon Region in the province of Namur.

Remains of an ancient Neanderthal occupation have been found at the Scladina site in Sclayn. Finds in the nearby village of Strud (Gesves) include what is considered to be one of the oldest known insect fossils.

It was in 692, the Merovingian period, that Andenne began its development, thanks to the foundation of a monastery by Begge (or Begga), grandmother of Charlemagne, sister of Gertrude de Nivelles, mother of Pépin de Herstal and grandmother by Charles Martel where he was born 1.

On a trip to Rome, the Pope encouraged Begge, then a widow, to build a monastery. God made known to Begge the exact place where to establish this monastery, by showing him a sow and her seven piglets, then a hen and her seven chicks. These signs were interpreted by Begge as the divine will to see a sanctuary with seven chapels installed there. Thus was born Andenne, the city of seven churches. More likely, the pilgrimage to the seven basilicas of Rome was undoubtedly at the origin of the creation of these parishes. A chapter of canonesses, also founded by Begge, settled around these churches at the same time.

It is also said that Charles Martel, still a child, killed, at the beginning of the 7th century, a bear which terrorized the Mosan city. This legend explains the presence of this animal as a symbol of the city.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the plastic lands of Andenne (the “white derle”) favored the development of ceramics. Pottery and terracotta tiles were exported far beyond the city limits. The manufacture of clay pipes dates from the end of the 18th century. Andenne was also distinguished by the production of fine earthenware. Today, a Ceramics Museum bears witness to this flourishing activity which once made Andenne famous throughout the world.

In the 18th century, the seven churches were destroyed and their stones used to build the collegiate church of Sainte-Begge, a neoclassical building built between 1764 and 1778 by Laurent-Benoît Dewez (1731-1812), the official architect of Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine . The collegiate church currently houses a museum which presents religious objects.