Liège

The city of Liège is located at the confluence of the Ourthe and Meuse Rivers in the province of Liège, of which it is the capital, in eastern Belgium. The site of an ancient settlement, the Romans knew it as Leodium. It was established as a town and bishopric in 721. It became a noted center of learning and art in the Middle Ages. Strife between the guilds and the nobles dominated the early 14th century until political equality was granted to the laborers and to most of the trade guilds in 1313. The town was sacked by Charles the Bold of Burgundy in 15th century, but after his death was rebuilt and prospered. Both France and England attacked it during the War of Spanish Succession. The reign of the nobles ended in 1789, but then France took the town in 1795. After the creation of Belgium in 1830, the town flourished as an industrial center. The German army occupied it in both world wars, and it suffered heavy bombardment in the Second World War. Today it produces steel, coal, glass, copper, and armaments. It has many Romanesque and Gothic churches, and the former palace of the prince-bishops, now the Palais de Justice. It is the cultural center of Wallonie, with many museums and concert halls, an opera, theatre, the state university, the preserved house of the composer César Franck, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. The 2003 estimated population was 185,700.