Soignies

Soignies is a municipality and town in the province of Hainaut in Wallonia, Belgium, known in Dutch as Zinnik. It is made up of the districts of Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies and Thieusies, and Casteau has been the site of the NATO military headquarters known as SHAPE since 1967. The name comes from the Latin suniacum, meaning on the Senne, and the spring of the Senne lies near the town. Its recorded history begins in the seventh century, when Madelgaire, who took the religious name Vincent, founded an abbey here that is first mentioned in the Treaty of Meersen of 870; he became the town's patron saint. A chapter of canons governed the town until the French Revolution and built the Romanesque Collegiate Church of St Vincent. Soignies is also known for its blue limestone quarries and for a glass industry, and its Grand Tour Saint Vincent procession is held every Pentecost Monday.