Casteau

Casteau (Walloon: Castea) originated as a village in the Hainaut province of Wallonia, in the French speaking south of Belgium. Casteau has become a district of the municipality of Soignies, centred around Soignies (town), and together with the former villages, now districts: Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, and Thieusies.

The village is located between the towns of Mons and Soignies on the Mons-Brussels road. The river Obrecheuil flows through the village. In the past, there were some watermills along the river.

The name Casteau is derived from the French word for castle, château, and stems from the Latin castellum.

Casteau was already known in Neolithic times. A Roman cemetery from the times of Marcus Aurelius has been discovered.

• 1678: French soldiers destroyed the village during the Battle of Saint-Denis against the Dutch army of William III of Orange.
• 1825: A part of the western plain became a military camp for the Dutch army until the Belgian Revolution in 1830.
• 1914: August 22, Captain Charles Hornby was reputed to have become the first British soldier to kill a German soldier using his sword and Drummer Edward Thomas of C squadron, Royal Dragoon Guards was the first British soldier to fire a shot in the first skirmish between British and German troops in the First World War. This is commemorated by the first shot memorial in the village.
• 1940: German troops occupied the barracks until 1944.
• 1967: The SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe) moved into the base.
• 1977: Casteau was merged with other villages to make the municipality of Soignies.

يقع وادي أوبريشويل شرق القرية، وهو جزء من محمية ناتورا 2000 الطبيعية . يقع قلب القرية في الجزء الشمالي الغربي المرتفع من الوادي، وهو سهل تنتشر فيه بيوت ومزارع متناثرة محاطة بسياجات نباتية مميزة. تشكل القرية الحد الفاصل بين وادي لا هاين (ارتفاعه من 20 إلى 30 مترًا) وهضبة هينو (ارتفاعها من 80 إلى 150 مترًا).

تحيط بالقرية عدة غابات (تضم أشجار البلوط والزان والكستناء والحور ) ، وحقول (تزرع فيها البطاطا وبنجر السكر والذرة والقمح ) ، ومروج (للأبقار والخيول). الأرض مكونة من الرمال والطمي .

• مصنع جعة وجبن حرفي يُسمى "لأوغرينواز".
• خدمة نقل الركاب بالحافلة

• الموقع الرسمي (باللغةالفرنسية)
• موقع مصنع الجعة أوغرينواز (باللغة الفرنسية )
• موقع إلكتروني لجمع الحافلات (باللغة الفرنسية )