Halle, Belgium

Halle, called Hal in French, is a Belgian city and municipality in the Halle-Vilvoorde district of the province of Flemish Brabant. It lies on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, on the Flemish side of the language border between Flanders and Wallonia, about 22 kilometres southwest of Brussels, and Dutch is its official language. The municipality takes in the city proper and the towns of Buizingen and Lembeek, and its population grew from 32,758 in 1991 to 39,536 on 1 January 2019. Freedom charters were granted to the town in 1225 by Jeanne, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, and for centuries it was a frontier town between Hainaut and Brabant. It has long been a pilgrimage site because of its miraculous statue of the Virgin, kept in the Gothic Basilica of Saint Martin, and today it is a regional centre for trade, education, health care and public services.