Liège

Liège lies in the valley of the Meuse in eastern Belgium, where the river meets the Ourthe, and is the capital of its province. It is close to two borders (Maastricht about 33 kilometres north, Aachen about 53 north-east) and forms part of the sillon industriel, the industrial spine of Wallonia. It remains the principal economic and cultural centre of the region. The city wears its industrial past rather than hiding it, and the meeting of the Meuse and the Ourthe in the middle of it is what set the shape of the place.