BINCHE

'Binche' is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Hainaut. On January 1 2006 Binche had a total population of 32,409. The total area is 60.66 km² which gives a population density of 534 inhabitants per km². Since 1977, the municipality of Binche has gathered the town of Binche itself with seven old municipalities : Bray, Buvrinnes, Epinois, Leval-Trahegnies, Péronnes-lez-Binche, Ressaix et Waudrez.
In 2003, the Carnival of Binche was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
The motto of the city is "Plus Oultre" (meaning "Further" in Old French), which was the motto of Charles V, who in 1545 gave the medieval castle of Binche to his sister Maria of Hungary, Queen-governess of the Spanish Netherlands. She lavished attention on Binche, which she had rebuilt under the direction of a architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq, remembered today as the first master of Giambologna. The château, intended to rival Fontainebleau, was destroyed by the soldiers of Henri II in 1554.

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See also

External links (in French)

See also

★ Carnival of Binche

External links (in French)

★ Official site of the city of Binche

★ Official site of the carnival of Binche

★ Binche El' Boudène du Web

★ Union binchoise des Étudiants de Louvain : pages on Binche

★ International Carnival & Mask Museum in Binche

★ Evangelical Protestant Church of Binche

★ Rugby Club of Leval, Binche