Top Things to do in Namur Province
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The 10 Best Things to do Good for a Rainy Day in Namur Province, Wallonia
Discover the best top things to do in Namur Province, Belgium including Dharma City, Brasserie Caracole, Felicien Rops Museum (Musee Felicien Rops), Tresor d'Hugo d'Oignies, Cave of Lorette-Rochefort, Eglise Saint-Loup, Espace Arthur Masson, Musee du Malgre-Tout, Brasserie du Bocq, Eglise Abbatiale d'Hastiere.
Restaurants in Namur Province
1. Dharma City
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 15 reviews
Dharma City is a philosophy, meditation and retreat center attracting people from all over the world. Visitors can enjoy the Tibetan Buddhist Temple, Tea House and visit the Dharma Shop. We hope to meet you soon in Dharma City!
2. Brasserie Caracole
3. Felicien Rops Museum (Musee Felicien Rops)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 251 reviews
Reviewed By periandro - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
The building inside which there is the Museum is a nice house dating back to the seventeenth century situated in 12, rue Fumal to where it moved in the eighties of the twentieth century from the Hôtel de Gaiffer d’Hestroy. The Museum is located in the hub of Namur at a walking distance from the Cathedral. That can be clearly realized by casting a glance through the two looking boxes directed to Saint - Aubain Cathedral and St. Jean church, very interesting views by the way. The works by Rops displayed in that Museum represent a unique art conception encompassing divers types of slide arts. So, one can see there some lithographs which were published in the Uylenspiegel journal, such as the caricature of the French photographer Nadar and “La politique pour rire”. It’s amazing to realise how in the satirical drawings concerning the series to which the last mentioned lithographs belong Rops referred to the Belgian constitution and blended humour with parliamentary decisions. The “Uylenspiegel , journal des débats, artistiques et literaires” was a magazine founded by Rops himself and therefore the real starting point of his artistic career. His art production at that time wasn’t constricted to lithographs and the proof thereof is the oil painting “L’Entrée au bal”. It’s a striking picture in that Museum at the sight of which it’s easy to gather that Rops’s concerns didn’t fall within the academic teaching which enjoined geometric rigour and perfect identification of forms. Likewise the lithograph “La Médaille de Waterloo” is a striking work particularly as it depicts the army as a mass of absurd skeletons. This work is an example of Rops’s political commitments as it shows a dwarf senile Emperor supporting himself with a cane in the middle of a radiant Waterloo medal . “La Peine de Mort” is also a witness of the author’s political commitment as a contribution against death penalty. In his works within the scope of realism style the denouncement of the hypocrisy of certain people is outstanding. In them Rops painted what he saw. That’s why he was accused sometimes of making anticlerical works, as it was the case in connection with “Chez les Trappistes” and in “Un Enterrement en Pays Wallon”. Both litographs are eye catching as they denounce the perversity and the stupidity of the clergy respectively. The latter should be observed attentively in order to realise the solitude in which the little orphan in front of the grave finds himself as he doesn’t get a single gesture of consolation or tenderness from the other people attending the burial. The painting “Tête de Vieille Anversoise” is in realism style. In it the piercing and scrutinizing gaze of the elderly lady depicted in it is somewhat terrifying. Among Rops’s works somehow related to the French poet Charles Baudelaire exhibited in the Museum one could point out “La Mort qui danse”, “Les Épaves”, consisting in etching and dry-point, destined to be the frontispiece for Charles Baudelaire’s work “Les Épaves”, and “Satan semant l’ivraie”. The last one depicts a frightening scene in which the devil tramples on a freshly ploughed soil spreading away the rye grass that will destroy the farmers’ harvest. Rops was also very skilled in the technique of engraving what can be observed in two sketches exhibited in the Museum which he made to be used as a frontispiece for “Les Oeuvres Inutiles et Nuisibles” 1879 - 1880 consisting of two albums, the first one opening with a naked woman and the second album with the same drawing on the same woman dressed in her city dress. It’s amazing to watch these two drawings which somehow remind of the paintings of the Majas by Goya. Perhaps the most interesting sections of the Museum are the works having women as the main character. In the works included in one of those sections some prostitutes are portrayed as well as scenes in women’s bars, cabarets and brothels. The world of prostitution really fascinated the artist. That section consists of drawings, heliogravures prints, pastels and colour etchings. All the women represented in those works are beautiful as one can see in the following ones: “La Buveuse d’Absinthe”, “La Dèche”, “Le Gandin Ivre” and “Le Bouge à Matelots”. In another section Rops tried to reflect the fact that at the end of the nineteenth century women were often considered as manipulating. The charming character of all women depicted in those works is outstanding. Watching them one can be astounded at realising that women possess whatever is needed to procure for themselves all that they want from men. This can be clearly observed in Rops’s versions of “Dame au Pantin et à l’Éventail”, made each one of them using different techniques though the watercolour is present in all of them. In the fourth version, for instance, the lady carries a knife on her belt and, with a satisfied expression, holds up a puppet whose position calls up its submissive role. The picture “Pornocratés” ou “La Dame au cochon” is perhaps Rops’s most widely known work. It’s a stunning work depicting a lady dressed only in gloves, black stockings and a Gainsborough hat who walks proudly over the ancient arts that are sculpted and set into the marble. Three little cherubs try to seduce the woman, who continues its way guided by a pig. It’s a marvelous painting. Upon suggestion of Jules Noilly, Rops created more than a hundred sketches of lifestyles outlining the bourgeois hypocrisies of the time. In the Museum there are about twenty of them which are splendid artworks that can no doubt be admired by anyone having a bit of sensitiveness. One among the most interesting of them is perhaps “La Chanson de Chérubin” representing a scene in a boudoir saturated with red. That scene is about a vulgar bourgeois singing a serenade to a prostitute who has a vague look and is undressed. Another precious picture of that series is that called “La Toilette” showing a woman of doubtful reputation and morals dressing herself under the interested gaze of a dandy, lacing her corset, her eyes riveted on those of her lover. She reveals herself to be manipulating and dangerous. In the journeys that Rops made to evade himself from Paris and so discover other realities, he also continued carrying out his artistic activity. The most outstanding artworks displayed in the Museum in relation to those intervals are the oil on canvass paintings “La Plage de Heyst”, which is the impression of the atmosphere of a visit to the North Sea, and “Le Paysage Scandinave” in which he used a post-impressionist technique, as well as that called “Vue de Séville”. As far as the rest of the works to be admired in the Museum is concerned, that painting called “Avendre (Les Deux Amies)” is the most outstanding. It depicts two ladies, one of them consisting of a stunning nude comparable to those of Toulouse-Lautrec. Besides, on the day I visited the Museum, 14.01.2020, the temporary exhibition was also very interesting. It consisted of paintings borrowed from other Belgian museums and included even one by Ensor. As one can gather from the foregoing the Rops Museum is a unique art museum housing highly valuable works different from those which can be seen in most museums. Such works are both very peculiar and beautiful. In order to realize such qualities it’s therefore utterly recommendable to visit the Museum and watch attentively all the works there exhibited.
4. Tresor d'Hugo d'Oignies
5. Cave of Lorette-Rochefort
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 75 reviews
6. Eglise Saint-Loup
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 178 reviews
Reviewed By Steeve17 - Dinant, Belgium
This church is a jewel box. I particularly enjoyed the sculpture of Mary (on the left side). The church was built in 1621, in a Baroque style. If you are new in town, you should definitely pay a visit to this delightful lady.
7. Espace Arthur Masson
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 42 reviews
8. Musee du Malgre-Tout
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 39 reviews
Reviewed By GLove500 - Bierbeek, Belgium
Educational journey through the history of the region, starting in prehistoric times and ending with the Roman occupation. The museum has an extensive permanent exhibition showing items which were excavated by the non-profit association running the museum. This exhibition also contains one of the largest collections of skulls which portay the evolution of the human evolution. Regurlarly switching temporary exhibitions in a separate part of the museum. An outside part with recreated prehistoric shelters completes the visit. Child friendly explanation, both in the exhibition as in a separate part of the guide booklet.
9. Brasserie du Bocq
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 66 reviews
Brasserie du Bocq, Set up in 1858 remains one of the last traditional Belgian Breweries. In the marvelous touristic area we called Condroz this dynamic company still uses the traditional manufacturing process of top-fermentation beers with secondary fermentation in bottle. Discover the brewery is also the pleasure to taste their beers. At the ende of the tour, enjoy a glass of one of the brewery's products in an exceptional surrounding, a free beer for each visitor!
Reviewed By Krisiur
We came to visit the brewery from Hungary, it was a very good experience :) We were especially delighted with the kindness of the girl who was taking us on the brewery tour. We tried every beers they had on tap. Recommend to go there with taxi because in belgium you can only drink 1 beer if you drive.
10. Eglise Abbatiale d'Hastiere
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