Charleroi is a town people love to hate. It’s the poster child for post-war industrial decline so severe that one reason people visit is to take a ‘dark tourism’ tour of its most blighted corners: ruined buildings, shells of factories and foundries, slag heaps of industrial waste that now form urban hills. A concerted effort to reinvent and reinvigorate itself over the last decade has done little to throw off the view of people I know that this ex-steel town is beyond saving.
It was Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that, in 2010, declared Charleroi the “ugliest city in the world”. That same year, The Guardian gave would be visitors the unusual travel advice of, “an overnight stay in Charleroi is only recommended for the hardiest of travellers”, like it was in a war zone. In the Rue de Mons, Charleroi is also said to have the “most depressing street in Belgium”, and there is no denying there are a lot of boarded up houses in the town centre
It may not be a typical tourist town, but for that reason alone I was determined to see the best in Charleroi, or at least not to take cheap shots at it. The city’s inhabitants don’t need someone who’s only been there for a day to tell them about its chronic social and economic problems. The dilapidation, litter and filth of its center are reminder enough. Still, it’s hard to feel upbeat after the fourth or fifth crack addict has asked you for money.
Named for Charles II, King of Spain, Charleroi was built as a fortress on top of a medieval village in the 1660s as defence against the French. It remained a strategically important town until the middle of the 19th century, by which time its growing industry, driven by the canalisation of the River Sambre and vast coal deposits, demanded the fortified walls were demolished to make way for coal and iron plants and an exploding population.
Charleroi epitomised the energy of the Industrial Revolution as well as the squalor and misery that came with it. Karl Marx, who lived in Brussels between 1845 and 1848, summed it up well: “Belgium, a paradise for the rich, hell for the poor.” The appalling conditions of Charleroi and the surrounding pays noir, black country of coal and smoke, formed the backdrop as Marx worked on The Communist Manifesto.
Belgian workers were probably on his mind when he wrote, “Workers of the world, unite.” Barely a century later those industries were no longer economically viable, the wreckage left an indelible mark on the town. If recent history has not been kind to Charleroi, urban planners and architects have also contributed to its post-apocalyptic aesthetic. Yet signs of green shoots of recovery exist and, if the city plays its cards right, it might just do a Leipzig.
There is work taking place to pedestrianise the area outside the town’s main train station, where I arrived early on a Sunday morning, and to create a riverside walkway and cycle path. Up the hill, the circular Place Charles II has also been pedestrianised. Here you find the 1930s Art Deco Town Hall with its UNESCO listed Belfry, and the 17th century Church of Saint Christophe with its lovely 1950s ‘Byzantine’ interior.
I passed several large pieces of street art – a prerequisite for any city hoping to revive its fortunes – and it is art and culture that may yet be the most important driver to lure visitors to Charleroi. The small Musée des Beaux Arts has a great collection including a selection of Belgian industrial paintings. Housed in a recently renovated building, it should have been packed with people on a day when entrance was free. I had the place to myself.
While change appears to be coming to Charleroi, just one day there made the size of that task abundantly clear.
Yet it does have some magnificent architecture! I do hope the people of Charleroi can turn their fortunes around. It certainly looks as if they are trying.
Slowly things seem to be changing. I saw several really nice Art Nouveau buildings in the centre, they were badly run down and I guess not cheap to renovate. I hope they can be saved before it’s too late.
That was wonderful.
Is that the Charleoi where Rimbaud was born ?
Alas, no. He was born in France’s Charleville.