Arlon / Aarlen

Arlon (Dutch name: Aarlen) is a city (with about 30,000 inhabitants) in Belgium, located in the Walloon Region, in the province of Luxembourg, approximately 190 km southeast of Brussels (➤ map)(➤ map). Capital of the province of Luxembourg.

Arlon is (together with Tournai and Tongres) one of the three oldest cities in Belgium, functioning as an administrative and commercial center since Roman times. In modern times, the city, like other cities located in what is now Belgium, changed its political affiliation many times; in 1815 it found itself within the borders of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and after 1830 - within the borders of independent Belgium. Today, Arlon is the capital of the province of Luxembourg, located right on the border with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The most important sacral monument of Arlon is considered to be the Capuchin church of St. Donat (Église Saint-Donat) from the first half of the 17th century, located in the city center, on a hill that functioned as the center of the settlement already in Roman times. From the top of the church tower there is a spectacular view of the city and its surroundings (including the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and France). Another notable church in Arlon is St. Martin (Église Saint-Martin), built in the neo-gothic style in 1907-1914. The 97 m high tower of this church is the highest in Wallonia and the seventh tallest in Belgium.

However, the most important tourist attraction in Arlon is usually considered to be the Archaeological Museum (Musée Archéologique), one of the best museums of this kind in Belgium, with a rich collection finds from Luxembourg, including a collection of Roman sculptures and collections of burial art from the Merovingian era.