Faymonville

Faymonville is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Waimes, located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Its inhabitants are nicknamed the "Turks" by the neighbouring towns and villages. It is believed that the inhabitants refused to join the crusades against the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and were called as Turks consequently. Another reason could be that the inhabitants did not have to pay the taxes collected by the monks of the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy for the war against the Turkish empire, since Faymonville was part of the Duchy of Luxembourg, contrary to the other Walloon villages of the area. The inhabitants of these villages therefore would have called the inhabitants of Faymonville the "Turks". To protest, the latter adopted crescent and star as their symbols wearing them and dressing their building. This later became a tradition. It was even once told that when the villagers were to gather in the church, they did not use the bells but a call to church like the call to prayer in Turkey. This has however never been really assessed and should be viewed more as a legend. Every year the town celebrates their connection to Turks and the inhabitants now call themselves Turks.

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