Place Marché-aux-légumes - Namur

The Place Marché-aux-légumes ( known locally as the Place du Vieux and sometimes referred to by the abbreviation PDV) is a public space in the heart of the oldest district of the city of Namur in Belgium. It was constructed in 1781 .

The old Saint-Loup church , which was in an advanced state of disrepair, was demolished at the end of the 18th century . The parish was transferred to the Jesuit church of Saint-Ignace (rue du Collège), which became the (new) church of Saint-Loup in 1777. The site of the former church and cemetery of Saint-Loup was sold to the city and converted into a 'vegetable market' in 1781, later known as the 'Place Marché aux Légumes'.

The square forms a small quadrangle with four narrow streets leading off it, the layout of which dates back to the Middle Ages. The surrounding houses date from the 18th and 19th centuries and are mostly restaurants and bars with terraces on the square itself. One of these is the 'Ratin-Tôt', which is believed to be the oldest bar-tavern in the city of Namur (1616): "li pus vî cabrèt d'Nameur". The east side of the square is completely occupied by the Saint Jean-Baptiste church, which dates from the thirteenth century and has been restored several times.

Although it has lost its original function as a market, the 'Place Marché aux légumes' remains one of Namur's most popular meeting places.

Willem Vandenameele