Do you know that Dinant is the hometown of Adolph Sax, inventor of the saxophone? Well, now you do. This picturesque city in Meuse Valley has a rich history and has so much to offer than saxophone. Read on to find out why it is a hidden gem waiting for you to discover.
Getting there:
From Brussels Central train station, it’s approximately 2 hours train ride to Gare de Dinant station.
Best time to visit Dinant:
It is best to make a day trip to Dinant during the weekends as the train ticket is half of the normal price! A normal return ticket would cost EUR 28.80, whereas with the weekend ticket, it only cost me EUR 14.40.
And also every year, Dinant International Bathtub Regatta will be held in Dinant around mid August. It was held on 15 August 2018, so I missed the event during my visit.
Dinant's railway station is on the left bank of the river.
Being the hometown of the hometown of Adolph Sax, it’s unsurprising that you can see the symbolic saxophones everywhere in the city.
What to see in Dinant?
1) Le triomphe de la lumière (Triumph of Light).
Originally meant to be put atop the rock of Dinant but now standing on the left bank of River Meuse, this statue wielding a sword and a torch is said to have inspired Frederick Auguste Bartholdi when he created the Statue of Liberty in New York City.
2) The view of Dinant from the left bank
Dinant’s colourful waterfront and the prominent Collégiale Notre Dame de in front of a cliff, sure looks like Belgium version of Hallstatt to me. The best view point of Dinant is standing on the left bank of the river before crossing the Charles de Gaulle bridge.
3) Charles de Gaulle bridge
Charles de Gaulle bridge connects the left and right banks of Dinant city.
Big colourful saxophones lined both sides of the bridge. Each saxophone has a unique design, representing its country.
For example, this one represented Austria.
4) Collégiale Notre Dame de Dinant
The city's landmark is the Collégiale Notre Dame de Dinant. The previous Romanesque church was destroyed by rocks falling from the cliff in 1227. The current church was rebuilt in Gothic style on its old foundations.
Interior of the church with tall columns.
Since the 16th century, it was capped by a bulbous clock tower, originally intended for the belfry, which was located on the bridge. It was extensively restored in the 19th century and again between 1919 and 1924.
5) Citadel of Dinant
To go up to the citadel, you can either walk up the approximately 408 steps or take the cable car.
I bought a combined ticket for entrance to the citadel and cable car which costs EUR 14. There’s also a combined ticket for citadel + cable car + boat(EUR 18).
Perched on a cliff, more than 100 meters above the River Meuse, the Citadel of Dinant offers spectacular views of the city.
The ticket provides access to the citadel sites and includes free top parking, cable car round trip, access to room 1914, staircase with 408 steps, terrace with panoramic view, “Les Cannon” cafetaria.
Opening hours: From April to October: every day from 10am to 6pm,
From November to March: closed on Fridays, from 10am to 4.30pm
In January: weekends and school holidays only, from 10am to 4.30pm
Entrance to the citadel.
Certain parts of the Citadel are freely accessible including this 1914 gallery dedicated to events in Dinant in the First World War. Others can only be accessed during a guided visit. The guided visit are available in French and Dutch only (approx. 45 mins). Speaker of other languages are invited to join the guided visit and they will be given an explanatory leaflet in Chinese, English, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish at the start of the visit.
A tunnel that leads to other exhibition rooms.
Looking down from the window of the fortification.
When the Germans invaded Belgium on 4 August 1914, Belgium appealed to the French and British, as the powers that were guarantors of its neutrality. French forces therefore entered the south of Belgium to meet the German troops, while the Belgian army sought to offer opposition from its strongholds of Liege, Namur and Antwerp. The first French troops arrived in Dinant on the evening of 6 August 1914. After bombarding the city, the Germans attacked the Citadel on 15 August 1914.
On 21 August, German soldiers accompanied by a car came hurtling down the hill and stormed Rue Saint-Jacques. Many of them were drunk, and they opened fire, smashed windows, kicked down doors and threw firebombs.
On 22 August, the population terrified of what happened on Rue Saint-Jacques during the night, sought to cross the bridge to the left bank of Meuse, but were soon refused access to the bridge. More than 200,000 people then tried to cross on barges before the French forbade all crossings.
At 5.30am on Sunday 23 August, German troops entered the city in four places. As soon as they entered the suburb of Leffe, The Germans engaged in a manhunt and mass killings took place at more then 20 places in the district.
Under the pretext that ‘civilian snipers’ had participated in the fighting, the Germans attacked the civilians. 674 men, women and children were shot; around 10% of the population. When night fell, countless fires were started. More than two-third of the buildings in the city were reduced to ashes.
Dinant is unusual in the history of First World War on the Western Front, being both a scene of bloody military clashes and a place where civilians were massacred.
Heading to the terrace with panoramic view and joining the guided tour group.
A canon at the fortification.
The panoramic view from the terrace is amazing!
The bridge was built in 1080 to provide safe passage across the river. A toll was charged.
It overlook the Meuse river.
This is part of the barracks with the rooms needed for keeping and quartering a garrison of about 400 soldiers.
The sleeping quarters of the soldiers in the citadel.
This is a recreation of a First World War trench and shelter. I could hear sound of bombs and gun fire. It felt like I’m in the middle of a crossfire.
This room has slanted floor, making it difficult to keep straight while walking through the room.
A military plane on display outside the fortification.
“Les Cannon” cafetaria.
Although the fortification may have stood on this spot as long ago as the fourth century, and the Bishop Prince of Liège rebuilt and enlarged it in 1530, but the present structure dates to the early 19th century.
After getting down from the Citadel, I continued to explore the remaining part of the city.
6) Maison Adolphe Sax
If you are interested in the history of saxophone, you should totally head to this museum to learn about it.
Brass statue of Adolph Sax, sitting on a bench outside the museum. You can take a photo with him if you like.
The museum is open daily and it’s free to enter.
The museum is interactive and you can listen to a variety of saxophones, as well as to saxophones in a variety of music styles inside.
This large book introduces visitors to the life of Mr. Sax.
Actually Mr. Sax has built more instruments than saxophones alone, and had a factory that was focused on production. He just lived a few years in Dinant and stayed a great part of his live in Paris.
More saxophones around the city.
This is Maison du Peuple (House of the People). It was built in 1922.
It was a pleasure to stroll along the river bank.
On the way to the Rocher Bayard, there is a small market which opens on Sunday. It’s not an attraction as per se, but still nice to drop by.
The stalls here mainly sell souvenirs and local products.
I opt to have my lunch here, as the restaurants along the riverfront was rather expensive.
I ordered a Paella which only cost me EUR 9.
Seats were provided so customers could dine on the spot.
After lunch, I walked to the next attraction, Rocher Bayard.
7) Rocher Bayard (Bayard rock)
According to the local legend, the giant rock been separated from the main rock mass by the strike of the hoof by Bayard (hence its name), the magical horse carrying the four sons of Duke Ayman on the run from Charlemagne. The reality, however, is much plainer - it was split in order to build the road along the River Meuse.
The 40 meters tall rock needle at the Meuse riverbank is now a tourist attraction.
You can either take a cruise to the Rocher Bayard (the leisure way) or walk along the river bank until you reach the rock (the hard way). Be prepared that it was a long walk to the rock from the city center, around 20 minutes, especially under the hot sun. An umbrella or a sun hat will make the walk more bearable as there is nothing much to see along the way.
What to try?
Definitely the so-called hardest biscuit in Europe: “couque de Dinant”. I bought one in the shape of saxophone from a bakery shop. It costs me EUR 3.
Took me a few attempts to get the picture right, with the saxophone shaped biscuit on the front and Collégiale Notre Dame de Dinant in the background.
The photographs turned out much better after noon time when the sun is high up in the sky. The cover photo of this post was taken before I left Dinant that day. I didn’t stay till evening but it looks like taking photo in the evening before the sun sets is lovely too.
Map of Dinant.
And this concluded my lovely day trip to Dinant, Sax and the City, haha. Will I recommend Dinant? Definitely.
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