Centre of Charleroi
Charleroi is the first city in the Walloon province of Hainaut
The municipality features an industrial area, iron and steel industry, glassworks, chemicals, and electrical engineering. Charleroi is in the center of a vast coal basin, called Pays noir. Many slag heaps still surround the city.
History :
The history of the city of Charleroi starts in 1666. In the spring of that year, Francisco Castel Rodrigo, Governor of the Netherlands at the service of the five-year-old Charles II of Spain, expropriated the area from the local lords to build a fortress near the Sambre. In September of that same year, the name Charnoy is officially ended and replaced by that of the newly founded city of Charles-Roy, so named in honour of Charles II. A year later, Louis XIV’s armies under the command of Turenne besieged the unfinished fortress. Vauban completed the fortification work; the future city was granted its privileges; a bridge was built over the river; and free land was distributed to the inhabitants
Trade and Commerce:
The local airport, Charleroi Brussels South, is a base of low-cost airline Ryanair. Eastern European low-cost carrier Wizz Air flies to Budapest, Ljubljana and Warsaw, while Italian operator OnAir has seasonal services to Pescara, Italy.
The current terminal, which has exceeded capacity, is to be replaced by a new one in 2007 (currently under construction), boosting total capacity to 3.000.000 passengers a year.
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