Chiny

The name Orval is closely linked to the sad history of Matilda of Tuscany, who was Duchess of Lower Lorraine.

In 1070, the monks of the Order of Saint Bernard descended from Calabria to the Ardennes to escape the horrific civil war there. They approached the Archbishop of Trier, who referred them to Count Arnold II of Chiny, who gave them a domain. This donation was confirmed by Matilda of Tuscany in 1076. She had gone to Chiny to find emotional peace after her husband's death. The accident was not yet over for her because near Chiny her 8 year old son drowned in the Semois. To overcome her grief, she went in search of peace with the monks to whom she had donated the domain.
Drowned in her sorrow, she often came to seek comfort near the fountain. When she touched the water with her fingers, she lost her wedding ring in the pool to make matters worse.
After many prayers to the Virgin Mary, a fish jumped out of the water with the ring in its mouth. Hence the to of "Le Val d'Or" or the Golden Valley. The symbol of Orval is also a fish with a ring in the mouth.

Pierre Duterme