Page 225 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

LIÈGE  223

E Sart-Tilman Open-air
Museum
Université de Liège-Domaine du Sart-
Tilman. Tel (04) 3662220. Open daily.
& 8 = ∑ museepla.ulg.ac.be
Located on the outskirts of
Liège, this museum opened
in 1977 as a result of a collab-
oration between the University
of Liège and the Ministry of
Culture. A perfect blend of
nature and architecture, the
museum’s permanent collection
includes more than 110 pieces.
They represent the history of
modern open-air sculpture in
French-speaking Belgium over
the past 40 years. Notable works
include The Mad Virgin by Rik
Wouters, The Eagle and Memory Historic industrial tools at the Maison de la Métallurgie et de l’Industrie
by André Willequet and Spring
and The Prostrate by George E Maison de la Métallurgie four centuries, such as forges,
Grard. Charles Leplae’s Young et de l’Industrie iron-furnaces, steam engines
Woman Kneeling is scheduled Boulevard Raymond-Poincaré 17. and hydraulic hammers.
to be added to the collection. Tel (04) 3426563. Open Apr–Oct:
9am–5pm Mon–Fri, 2–6pm Sat & Sun; E Cristal Park
Nov–Mar: 9am–5pm Mon–Fri. & - 6 km (4 miles) SW of Liège, Esplanade
∑ mmil.be du Val, Seraing. Tel (04) 3303620.
Located on the site of an old Open Easter–1 Nov: daily; 2 Nov–
metal work factory dating from Easter: Wed, Sat & Sun. & 7 0 =
1845, this museum is the best ∑ cristalpark.com
place to gauge Liège’s history The Cristallerie du Val St Lambert,
as an industrial centre. Steam a famous glass-manufacturer
power was first used by tex tile established in 1826, has its
mills in nearby Verviers (see headquarters at Cristal Park and
p226), and the iron-and-steel- the Château du Val St-Lambert.
indus try developed at Seraing, There is a glass workshop where
outside Liège, where Belgium’s visitors can observe glass being
first rail way engines were built blown, cut and engraved, a
The Mad Virgin (1912) by artist in the 1830s. It displays equip- museum and a showroom
Rik Wouters ment and machinery spanning displaying glass for sale.
P Gare de Liège-Guillemins
Place des Guillemins 2. Tel (04) Georges Simenon
2292610. Belgium’s bestselling author of all time,
In 1843, a link was forged Georges Simenon (1903–89) was born
between Liège and Aachen, in in Liège, at Rue Léopold 24. When he was two,
Germany, making the Gare de his family moved across the river to
Liège-Guillemins the world’s Outremeuse, to a street now renamed Rue
first international railway sta tion. Simenon. He trained as a journalist and wrote
Opened in 2009, it forms a major his first novel in 1919, before heading off to
hub on the inter na tional TGV Paris, in 1922, at the age of 19. He went on to
high-speed train network. To write some 350 novels and novellas, translated
mark the station’s significance, into many languages; 75 of them feature his
most famous creation, the French detective
Liège commissioned award- Georges Simenon, alias Inspector Maigret, who first appeared in 1931.
winning Spanish-Catalan The Man with the Pipe Maigret reached an even wider audience
architect Santiago Calatrava to through the many French feature films based
redesign it as an eye-catching on the novels. After World War II, Simenon lived in the USA and in
landmark. It is a huge, stunning Switzerland, but Liège continued to occupy his imagination and he
confec tion of curv ing steel and set a number of his novels here. The total number of Simenon books
glass, a breath tak ing introduction printed is thought to be about 550 million. The city’s tourist office has
to the city, where visitors immed- a leaflet on the Simenon Trail, which links sites in the Coeur Historique
iately get a sense of Liège’s newly and the Outremeuse districts that are connected to his life.
reinvigorated dynamism.

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