Lobbes

Lobbes (French pronunciation: [lɔb] ; Walloon: Lôbe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Lobbes had a total population of 5,499. The total area is 32.08 km2 which gives a population density of 171 inhabitants per km2. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bienne-lez-Happart, Lobbes, Mont-Sainte-Geneviève, and Sars-la-Buissière. The town grew up round Lobbes Abbey, a religious house established here in about 650. The Collegiate Church of Saint Ursmer, that dominates the town from a hill above the Sambre, was built as a burial church for the abbots and monks, largely dates from the 9th century. It is the oldest still functional church in Belgium and an unusually well-preserved example of Carolingian architecture. The tramway of the ASVi runs through Lobbes.