Casteau is an old village of Belgium in the french speaking region. With the others villages Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies (ville), and Thieusies, they make the municipality of Soignies. Soignies Soignies (in Dutch: Zinnik) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ...

Casteau, Old village under the snow. – Picture: Jean-Pol Grandmont.

• Postal code : 7061
• Province : Hainaut
• District : Soignies
• Gentilic : Castellois(e)
• Elevation: 125 m (410 ft)
• Area: 11,11 km² (4,3 square miles)
• Time zone: UTC+1

The village is located between the towns of Mons and Soignies on the road Mons-Brussel. The river Obrecheuil flows trought the village. In the past, there were soms watermills along the river. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (850x638, 115 KB) Description:Casteau (Belgium), le vieux village et léglise de la Sainte-Vierge. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (850x638, 115 KB) Description:Casteau (Belgium), le vieux village et léglise de la Sainte-Vierge. ... Hainaut (French; English traditionally Hainault, Dutch: Henegouwen, German: Hennegau, Walloon: Hinnot) is the westernmost province of Wallonia, in Belgium. ... Soignies Soignies (in Dutch: Zinnik) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ... The central square and town hall of Mons Mons (Dutch: Bergen) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. ... Soignies Soignies (in Dutch: Zinnik) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ... The central square and town hall of Mons Mons (Dutch: Bergen) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. ... For other uses, see Brussels (disambiguation). ...

Etymology

The name Casteau comes from the latin's word castellum that means Castle. A castle (from the Latin castellum) is a structure that is fortified for defence against an enemy and generally serves as a military headquarters dominating the surrounding countryside[1]. The term is most often applied to a small self-contained fortress, usually of the Middle Ages. ...

History

Casteau, the old watermill. – Picture: Jean-Pol Grandmont.

Casteau was already known in the neolithic. A roman cemetery ([Marcus Aurelius] period) was discovered. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (850x644, 136 KB) Description:Casteau (Belgium), le vieux moulin. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (850x644, 136 KB) Description:Casteau (Belgium), le vieux moulin. ...

1678 : French soldiers have destroyed the village during the battle of St-Denis against Holland's army of [William the Silent]. 1825 : A part of the western plain becames a military camp for the Holland's army until the revolution of Belgium in 1830. 1940 : Germans troops took place in the camp until 1944. 1967 : The SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe) was installed in the place. 1977 : Casteau was attached with others villages to make the municipality of Soignies. In geometry, two sets have the same shape if one can be transformed to another by a combination of translations, rotations and uniform scalings. ... Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the central command of NATO military forces. ... Soignies Soignies (in Dutch: Zinnik) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ...

Landscape

The valley of the river Obrecheuil is in the east of the village. This part of the valley is [Natura 2000]. The heart of the village is in the west higher part of the valley. The western part of the village is a plain with dispersed houses and farms with typicals hedges. The village is the border between the valley of the river [The Haine] (Elevation from 20 to 30m) and the plateau of [Hainaut] (Elevation from 80 to 150 m).

Around the village, there are several woods (Oaks, beeches, chestnuts, poplars,...), fields (potatoes, sugar beets, corns, wheats,...) and prairie (Cows, horses). The ground is made of sands and silts..

Local Speciality

Brewery and artisanal cheese named as l'Augrenoise.

External links

• Official website (in French)
• Website of the brewery Augrenoise (in French)