Industriana

The Grand-Hornu is located in the heart of the Province of Hainaut, at a stone’s throw from the cities of Mons and Valenciennes and is one of the most beautiful heritage places of the Industrial Revolution.
This former mining complex was erected between 1810 and 1830 by Henri De Gorge, an industrial captain of French origin, the Grand-Hornu constitutes a real city project, a unique example of functional urban planning on the European continent at the beginning of the Industrial Era. Built in the neoclassical style, it includes the workshops and offices of the colliery, the workers’ estate of some 450 exceptionally comfortable houses for that time, each with a private garden, and the “Château De Gorge”.
The workers' estate is also equipped with a school, a hospital, public squares, a library, a dance hall ... To make his ambitious dream come true, Henri De Gorge calls on the architect Bruno Renard for the construction of the complex. He will refer to the principles of the communitarian ideal defended by certain theoreticians and utopians of the time. The Grand-Hornu was also a fabulous technological laboratory. Henri De Gorge uses new extraction techniques and new steam engines. In addition, he innovates and installs the first horse-drawn railway of the country in 1830to support the economic development of the company. The Grand-Hornu colliery continues to work in order to win the Battle of the Coal but slows down its pace in 1951, date of the Treaty of the ECSC.