Last modified: 2008-04-26 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Trois-Ponts]](../images/b/be-wlgtp.gif)
Municipal flag of Trois-Ponts - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 11 May 2007
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The municipality of Trois-Ponts (2,504 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 6,890 ha) is located in the massif of Ardenne, a few kilometers south-west of Stavelot, on the confluency of the valleys of the rivers Amblève (Amel) and Salm. The municipality of Trois-Ponts was formed in 1976 by the merging of the former municipalities of Fosse-sur-Salm, Basse-Bodeux and Wanne.
Trois-Ponts is named after three bridges (in French, trois ponts)
built on the rivers Baleur, Salm and Amblève. Until 1860, Trois-Ponts
was a small hamlet with hardly a dozen of houses, but located on an
important crossroads. A post house already existed there in the XVIIIth
century. Trois-Ponts was also located on the pilgrimage road to
Santiago de Compostela; a primitive church seems to have existed in the
village of Saint-Jacques already in the VIIth century.
In 1861, it was decided to build a railway station at Trois-Ponts;
several workers employed on the building sites of the Stavelot-Spa and Trois-Ponts-Trois-Vierges lines settled in the hamlet, which became a village with two monthly cattle fairs.
Trois-Ponts and the neighbouring villages were occupied by the Germans
during the two World Wars; several of their inhabitants were
slaughtered by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge in winter
1944-1945.
The municipality of Trois-Ponts was formed in 1970 by the merging of
Fosse-sur-Salm and Wanne. In 1976, the former municipality of
Basse-Bodeux and a small part of Stavelot were added to Trois-Ponts.
The hydroelectric power plant of Coo-Trois-Ponts was built from 1967 to
1979. The lower basin was originally designed by the monks of the abbey
of Stavelot; they modified the course of the Amblève in the XVIIIth
century to build the cascad of Coo and isolated the artificial meander
from the Amblève by two dykes. The upper basin is made of two
artificial lakes set up on the top of the plateau of Brume. The
underground "cavern" (128 m x 22 m x 40 m) houses seven
turboalternator groups.
The principle of the plant is energy accumulation by pumping.
During the night and week-end slack periods when electricity is
cheaper, water is pumped up to the upper basin; during the daily peak
periods, water is sent down to the lower basin and produces
electricity.
Source: Municipal website
The Val de Wanne ski piste is the longest in Belgium. It is the home of the ski and snowboard club Casablanca, whose most famous member was Karen Persyn (b. 1983 in Rumst), currently the best Belgian skier. Her best performance in the ski world cup is 28th in the slalom of Maribor, season 2003-2004. She ranked as the world's 56th slalomer after the 2005-2006 season (to be compared with 81st in 2004-2005). Karen recently moved to another local ski club, Val de Wanne.
Ivan Sache, 3 October 2007
The municipal flag of Trois-Ponts is vertically divided blue-white with a white scallop in canton.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, the flag follows the proposal made by
the Heraldry and Vexillology Council of the French Community as
Deux laizes transversales bleue et blanche, chargé d'une coquille
blanche au canton à la hampe.
Blue and white are the traditional colours of Trois-Ponts, whereas the
scallop recalls St. James and the Santiago pilgrimage.
However, several pages of the municipal website show the drawing of a flag , vertically divided blue-white with a yellow (?) shield in the middle portraying a saint, most probably St. James.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat, Santiago Dotor & Ivan Sache, 8 December 2007