Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin

Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin (Walloon: ) is a Belgian village and district of the municipality of Walhain, Wallonia in the province of Walloon Brabant.

The church of Saint Vincent

The villages of Nil-Saint-Vincent and Nil-Saint-Martin were merged in 1812.[1] 'Nil' is the name of a small river, along whose valley the various areas of settlement (Nil-Pierreux, Nil-Saint-Vincent, Nil-Saint-Martin) lie.

Tiège windmill

Landmarks

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Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin has several notable landmarks.

The Tiège windmill

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The Tiège windmill was built in 1834 by the Thienpont family. It was used until 23 June 1946[2] and today is a listed building (monument classé).

 
Monument at the geographical centre of Belgium

The centre of Belgium

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The Institut Géographique National, the Belgian national cartographical service, calculated that the geographical centre of Belgium lay in Nil-Saint-Vincent.[3] The architect Bernard Defrenne built a monument for this location, which was inaugurated on 22 August 1998.[3] It is located at coordinates 50°38′28″N 4°40′05″E / 50.64111°N 4.66806°E / 50.64111; 4.66806 (Geographical centre of Belgium).[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Histoire de Nil-Saint-Vincent" (in French). Municipality of Walhain. Archived from the original on 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  2. ^ Sign seen next to the windmill (See Moulin Du Tiège sign photo)
  3. ^ a b "Centre géographique - Le Site" (in French). Municipality of Walhain. Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  4. ^ "Center Cache". Retrieved 2007-03-09.
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50°38′21″N 4°40′21″E / 50.639037°N 4.67258°E / 50.639037; 4.67258