Charleroi: Ugliest city in the world? Not really. At least if you like industrial and monumental heritage. Charleroi grew into one of the most industrialised regions in the world from the nineteenth century onwards. Coal and steel were among the region's products. Charleroi also became the centre of the glass and chemical industries; Ernest Solvay invented soda salt in Couillet.
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On the occasion of International Art Nouveau Day, celebrated each year on June 10, a look at how this ornate architectural movement found its way into the most unlikely of places like coal mines, power stations, and railway yards and the long, sometimes heartbreaking battles to save what remains.
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