Charleroi

Charleroi, a town in the Belgian province of Hainault, on the Sambre, 35 miles S. by E. of Brussels by rail. It carries on considerable manufactures in hardware, glass, woollen-yarn, &c. The district is rich in coal, and the number of smelting-furnaces and nail-factories in the neighbourhood is very great; whilst the huge ironworks of Couillet lie within a mile of the town. The fortifications, begun by the Spaniards in 1666, fell next year into the hands of the French, and were completed by Vauban. After six exchanges of ownership between the French and Spaniards, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) left Charleroi in the possession of Austria. In 1794, after a protracted and desperate resistance, it capitulated to the French, when the fortifications were dismantled. The importance of the place from a strategic point of view became apparent during the campaign of 1815, when, three days before Waterloo, Charleroi was occupied by Napoleon, and the fortifications were restored; but in 1866 they were finally demolished. Pop. (1866) 12,150; (1891) 21,376.