In the Province of Hainaut, and amongst the towns of the coalmining district of the Borinage, lies the ancient town of Mons, which can trace its origins back to the eighth century. It sits on a low hill and at an historical crossroads. Eighteen miles to the north is the battlefield of Waterloo, where the decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars was fought almost a hundred years earlier; nine miles to the south is Malplaquet. Here, in 1709, the Duke of Marlborough won an enormously bloody victory against the French who had come to relieve the siege of Mons. Marlborough eventually captured Mons in the October. Mons retains, at its centre, much of its ancient charm; the town walls have been replaced by a ring road but the core area still has narrow, winding, cobbled streets, lined with ornate stone buildings. Nearby is the Headquarters of SHAPE [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe], the military nerve centre of NATO.
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