User:Arcadyjacot/subpage

Marche-Les-Dames is a section of the Belgian city Namur situated in the Walloon Region in the province of Namur.

It was a town by itself before the fusion of the Belgian municipalities of 1977.

8 kilometres downstream from Namur, alongside the Meuse, Marche-les-Dames has contained the abbey of Notre-Dame du Vivier since the 12th century.

Known for its boulders, crags and vertical cliffs, Marche-les-Dames is a place frequented by alpinists. It was during the ascent of one of those crags that King Albert I of Belgium died on 17 February 1934.  This accident was subject to polemic: some saw a sign of a plot, others the sign of a murder. A commemoration to honour the knight-king of the Yser Front in 1916 is perpetuated on the date of this tragedy. Marche-les-Dames is also known for its military camp of para-commando training.

Rock-climbing

After Freÿr, Marche-les-Dames is the second most important site of the country. This wonderful and impressive rocky group, extend on 2km 300 along the left bank of the Meuse, downstream from Namur. We count 9 boulders, upstream the commando camp, 7 are situated inside the camp and 7 downstream the camp. In total, 23 boulders high between 20 and 80 metres, containing more than 400 ways for most of the athletics ones, they took place on a dolostone ground, well-worked and riddled with holes. Other boulders: King Albert’s, Dièdre Noir’s and La Popeye’s, situated in the central part, royal domain. Some of them overhang the road and/or the railways, so climbing them is prohibited. Also worth mentioning is a beautiful via ferrata that runs through the commando camp and starts close to the Albert I shelter.