East Flanders
In the 1960s, Flanders had its first steel factory along the Ghent-Terneuzen canal. There, Sidmar (Sidérurgie Maritime) rose from the ground. Today, it is the home of the only active blast furnaces in Belgium.
Iron and steel
Dive into the heart of Europe's industrial revolution with a visit to its iron and steel heritage sites. From monumental blast furnaces to historic forges, explore the engineering feats that fueled progress.
- 26 destinations
Charleroi
Neither the city of Charleroi nor the Walloon Region wants to release the money to maintain blast furnace 4 in Marchienne-au-Pont and preserve it for future generations.
Charleroi
Between the Sambre and the Brussels-Charleroi canal, the industrialist and politician Ferdinand Puissant built the Forges de la Providence in 1832, an iron factory for which he sourced the mustard from the Englishman Thomas Bonehill.
East Flanders
In the East Flemish village of Basel, there is a two-hundred-year-old suspension bridge that engineer Jean-Baptiste Vifquain designed on behalf of Philippe Vilain XIIII, a Dutch King William I chamberlain.
Saarland
Julius Buch built the Völklinger Hütte in 1873, where steel was produced until 1986.
Aachen
The Cockerillstraße in Stolberg, Germany, already reveals that the Cockerill family also established itself near Aachen in the early nineteenth century.
Ruhr Area
One of the oldest preserved blast furnaces in the Ruhr area, the Henrichshütte in Hattingen, was built in 1854.
Wales
Thanks to the use of 18th-century cutting-edge technology - coal and steam - Blaenavon Ironworks in south Wales became the second largest iron producer in the world.
Wales
Judging from the crumbled remains of Clydach Ironworks, you wouldn't expect more than a thousand people to have been working here in 1840.
United Kingdom
The cradle of the industrial revolution is in Ironbridge, England. Reason enough to visit the village, which owes its name to the first cast iron bridge in the world, built in 1779 over the Severn River.
Latest from the blog
The spring classic Gent-Wevelgem will take you right through the West Flanders war landscape of World War I on Sunday, 30 March 2025. Discover famous bunkers, trenches, observation towers and monuments along the course.
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