Blaton () is a village of

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

and a district of the municipality of

Bernissart Bernissart (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2024, Bernissart had a total population of 11,878. The total area is 43.81 km2, which gives a population density of 271 inhabitants p ...

located in the province of Hainaut,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It was formerly a separate municipality until it merged in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

Etymology

The name of Blaton originates from the Latin word "Ablatonis," which transformed into the Gallo-Roman "Ablatonas," meaning ''at the huts''.

Geography

Situation

The village of Blaton has an altitude ranging from 27 meters at the level of the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes canal to 67 meters in the Bon-Secours Forest. This village is served by railway line 78, with Blaton station located in its center, as well as by the E42 highway, being situated 22 km from both the city of

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

and the city of

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

. It is also crossed by three canals: Blaton-Ath, Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes, and Pommerœul-Antoing, earning it the nickname "Little Venice of Hainaut". This strategic location, at the crossroads of major road, rail, and waterway networks, reinforces its importance in the region.

Culture and Heritage

Grande Bruyère

La Grande Bruyère de Blaton is a former sandpit designated as a SGIB (Site of Great Biological Interest). It is home to a very diverse fauna and flora, supported by its many varied habitats: sandy expanses, bodies of water, thickets, ponds, etc. The Parc Naturel des Plaines de l'Escaut regularly carries out maintenance and management work there since it obtained the status of a state-owned natural reserve in 2003, following an agreement between the municipality of Bernissart and the Walloon Region.

Parc Posteau

In the center of Blaton, on the edge of the Blaton-Ath Canal, lies Parc Posteau. This approximately 2.5-hectare area includes a pond and the stream that feeds it, with walkways allowing people to cross over the waters. The park also houses a rural house and an open-air theatrical space, which hosts many festivities throughout the year, including on July 21st, thus contributing to its renown. The municipality acquired this domain about a century ago. It once belonged to Ulysse Posteau, a grain merchant who lived there. In 2007, a project was launched to create a park and develop the neighboring meadow. The work was completed in 2012, and the park was then opened to the public.

Places and Monuments

* The Church of All Saints * The Chapel of La Grande Bruyère * The war memorial for the 1914-18 and 1940-45 wars * The “crêtes à cayaux” (literally “ridge of stones”), dry-stone or mortar-built walls with a crowning formed by vertically placed stones, partially or entirely delimiting properties, mainly along the streets of l’Enfer, de la Montagne, de Condé, and Émile Zola.Les « crêtes à cayaux » de Blaton (Bernissart, Belgique)

Notable residents

* Victor Martin, a

Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (, ) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many ...

member and academic sociologist who was sent to report on allegations of mass-murder of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

for the resistance in 1943. *

Luce Irigaray Luce Irigaray (; born 3 May 1930) is a Belgian-born French feminist, philosopher, linguist, psycholinguist, psychoanalyst, and cultural theorist who examines the uses and misuses of language in relation to women. Irigaray's first and most ...

, a feminist philosopher and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

who was born in Blaton in 1930.

Gallery

File:Bij Bernissart-Blaton, pont piéton IMG 6389 2023-06-04 11.57.jpg, Pedestrian bridge near Blaton. File:Station Blaton 4.jpg, Blaton train station. File:Blaton B PM 050362.jpg, Blaton-Ath canal. File:Blaton JPG0.jpg, All the Saints church. File:Canå Nîmi Blaton W4 27-44 1.jpg, Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes canal.

References

Former municipalities of Hainaut (province) {{Hainaut-geo-stub