Saint Cecilia

The village of Sainte-Cécile is as if it is riding on the border between the actual Ardennes and the softer Land of Gaum. Measured along the N83, the village lies about 7 km northwest of the larger Florenville. The quiet residential core of Sainte-Cécile has building styles that reflect both Gaume and the Ardennes. Its early beginnings would have been a convent, of course dedicated to Saint Cecilia, the patroness of musicians. But in 1380 that convent went up in flames during a fight between the lords of Chassepierre and the troops of the Liège prince-bishop. Also during the French Revolution, the village was partially destroyed. On Christmas Day in 1793, French revolutionaries sent scouts to the village, but the inhabitants shot happily from behind a hedge. A French officer was killed, to the great fury of the French, but the inhabitants fled into the woods, where they hid for a year. Meanwhile, Sainte-Cécile was partially burned to the ground. Stories of war and destruction: constants in the life of a village.
In the past, Sainte-Cécile had a weaving mill (La Mécanique) and a small cigar factory. But those have long since disappeared.

Lannoo