CHARLEROI

municipality, Hainaut province, south central Belgium, on the north bank of the Sambre River, south of Brussels. Following the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), France had to yield Landrecies, Avesnes, Philippeville, and Mariembourg to Spain. The frontier was dismantled, and with the return of peace and the marriage of Louis XIV to the Spanish Infanta, Spain determined to build a new fortress on the Sambre. This was to be Charleroi and the decree creating it was signed by the governor, Castel Rodrigo, in 1666. The site chosen for the new fortress was the medieval village of Charnoy and the name honoured Charles II, king of Spain. The very next year Louis XIV became master of Charleroi. It was returned to Spain in 1678, and once again fell to the French in 1693 after a siege directed by Sbastien de Vauban. Recovered by the Spanish in 1697, again French in 1701, the city was Austrian from 1713 to 1746. Napoleon headquartered in Charleroi in 1815 but was forced to retreat in a short timeregretting that he had not fortified the city. The Dutch (1816) did so as a barrier against France. Belgian after 1830, the fortress was dismantled between 1868 and 1871. Charleroi was the scene of the first battle of World War I (Aug. 22, 1914). Canalization of the Sambre in the 19th century brought great expansion, and Charleroi became the hub of a heavily populated industrial region, le pays noir (the black country, because of its smoke). It is now an important centre for coal mining and the iron, steel, and engineering industries. It manufactures machinery, electronic equipment, glass, chemicals, and cement. Jumet, a northern suburb of Charleroi, was world famous for its glassmakers in the 19th century and sent some to the United States, where a similar and now competing industry was founded. Jumet is also known for its Marche de la Madeleine, in which citizens disguised in Napoleonic uniforms prevented the passage of Napoleon's troops toward Waterloo. Notable landmarks include the town hall (1936) with its 230-ft (70-m) belfry, from which the annual procession of the Walloon Festival sets out, the Palais des Expositions (1954), where industrial exhibitions are held, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts (1957). Institutions include a Universit du Travail (business college), a medical and surgical institute, and an archaeological museum. Charleroi is linked to Brussels by rail and canal; its airport is 4 mi (6 km) north. Pop. (1990 est.) mun., 206,779.