Roture Street

A 19th-century writer claimed that the street got its name from the common people, the commoners who lived there, while the nobles would have preferred the main thoroughfares: Puits-en-sock Street and Jean d’Outremeuse Street. This is obviously incorrect. This alley, extremely narrow, owes its name to the Latin via rupta, broken way, made through the fields. This road was merely a secondary path, cleared in the plain to provide access to the fields that once existed there. The picturesque nature of the street has always attracted enthusiasts of traditions and folklore: puppet theater, cråmignons and other local festivities have always been in order there. This is where each year the procession for the burial of Matî l’ohê (literally Mathieu the bone) begins. This ceremony concludes the celebrations of August 15 in Liège: symbolically, the bone of the ham is buried to clearly signify the end of feasting and festivities. Numerous mourners wave celery branches instead of flowers. This custom is close to those still sometimes organized on Ash Wednesday at the end of certain carnivals (like in Spa). At number 58, a commemorative plaque reminds us that legend has it Tchantchès was miraculously born in this alley, between two cobblestones. It is Jean Bosly, a Walloon author, who is the author of the most famous legend of Tchantchès, written in 1956. Along the street, you will see two potales. At the end of the street, the lion's cage was installed in 1909 following a tram accident. Indeed, a child coming out of Roture Street had crossed Puits-en-sock Street without paying attention to the oncoming tram. To prevent any further accidents, iron barriers were installed to slow down the exit from the street. Illu: Roture Street in 1905 Illu: Photo of the commemorative sign paying tribute to the legend of Tchantchès

Fédération du Tourisme de la province de Liège