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{{Short description|City in Liège Province, Wallonia, Belgium}}
{{Redirect|Serè|other uses|Sere (disambiguation)}}
{{For|Belgian First Division A football club|RFC Seraing (1922)}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox Belgium municipality
|name             = Seraing
|native_name      = {{native_name|wa|Serè}}
|type             = city
|picture          = Seraing - Casa de la vila.jpg
|picture-legend   = City Hall
|map              = Seraing Liège Belgium Map.svg
|map-legend       = Location of Seraing in the province of Liège
|arms             = Héraldique Ville be Seraing.svg
|flag             = Flag of Seraing.svg
|province         = [[Liège]]
|arrondissement   = [[Arrondissement of Liège|Liège]]
|nis              = 62096
|mayor            = {{Interlanguage link multi|Déborah Géradon|fr}} ([[Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)|PS]])
|majority         = [[Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)|PS]]
|postal-codes     = 4100, 4101, 4102
|telephone-area   = 04
|web              = [http://www.seraing.be/ www.seraing.be]
|coordinates      = {{coord|50|35|N|05|30|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Seraing''' ({{IPA|fr|səʁɛ̃|-|LL-Q150 (fra)-Manestra-Seraing.wav}}; {{langx|wa|Serè}}) is a [[Municipalities of Belgium|municipality]] and [[City status in Belgium|city]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wet tot toekenning van de titel van stad aan de gemeenten Genk, Mortsel, Seraing en Waregem |url=https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/1999/06/23/1999000594/staatsblad |date=23 June 1999 |lang=nl |website=www.ejustice.just.fgov.be |publisher=[[Belgian Official Gazette]] |access-date=28 February 2025}}</ref> of [[Wallonia]] located in the [[Liège Province|province of Liège]], [[Belgium]]. 

The municipality consists of the following districts: [[Boncelles]], [[Jemeppe-sur-Meuse]], [[Ougrée]], and Seraing.  With [[Liège]], [[Herstal]], [[Saint-Nicolas, Liège|Saint-Nicolas]], [[Ans, Belgium|Ans]], and [[Flémalle]], it forms the greater Liège [[urban agglomeration|agglomeration]] (600,000 inhabitants).  To the south of Seraing are the [[Condroz]] and the [[Ardennes]] regions.

In addition to its steel factories, Seraing is home to the [[lead crystal|crystal]] manufacture [[Val Saint Lambert]], which has been operating on the site of an old [[Cistercian]] abbey since 1826. The site of the [[Arcelor]] steel company, previously known as [[Cockerill-Sambre]], is the former summer residence for the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]].

==History==

===Antiquity and Middle Ages===
Several skeletons, potshards, weapons, and jewels were discovered here, dating from the 5th and 6th century, attesting to Seraing being inhabited in [[Franks|Frankish]] times. The first mention of ''Saran'' dates from 956, when a [[Carolingian]] farming domain extending on both sides of the river [[Meuse]] and owned by someone named Saran was donated to the abbey of [[Sint-Truiden]].  The whole territory soon passed to the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]].  In the 11th century, Prince-Bishop Henri I of Verdun used a house in ''Seranus'' to entertain guests.  Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], the inhabitants of Seraing owed allegiance to [[Liège]], pledging to defend the fluvial approach to the city in case of invasion, in exchange for tax exonerations.  The first wooden bridge across the river, which replaced the ferry, was built in 1381.

===Industrial development===
[[File:Seraing Pont 1902.jpg|thumb|left|Bridge over the [[Meuse]], in 1902|240px]]

The name of the town changed several times throughout its history, with the current spelling only being set in the 18th century. At around that time, various factors combined to attract industrial investors to Seraing: the advent of the [[Industrial Revolution]], the proximity of the river [[Meuse]], and the discovery of coal at Ougrée. The first ironworks were founded there in 1809. [[John Cockerill (industrialist)|John Cockerill]] and his brother [[James Cockerill|James]] revolutionized the steel industry by using [[blast furnace]]s and [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] instead of traditional [[charcoal]]. These inventions would be the basis for his new company, [[John Cockerill (company)|John Cockerill & Cie]] established in Seraing in 1817. Over the next decades, many more metallurgical plants and foundries were built in this area, which became an integral part of Wallonia's industrial backbone, the [[sillon industriel]]. Glassworkers found the proximity of a cheap source of coal attractive. The [[Val Saint Lambert]] started its operations in 1826.

Seraing was the first location in Belgium where [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] built in Belgium.  Work began on the building in 1927 and completed before the end of 1930.<ref>Jenson, Andrew.  ''Encyclopedic History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 269</ref>

===Recent developments===
In the [[2012 Tour de France]], Seraing acted as the finish of [[2012 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10#Stage 1|Stage 1]].

== Politics and administration ==
=== List of mayors ===
* 1977–1988: {{Ill|Guy Mathot|fr}} ([[Socialist Party (Belgium)|PS]])
* 1988–1993: {{Ill|Gaston Onkelinx|fr}} (PS)
* 1994–2000: Jacques Vandebosch (PS)
* 2000–2005: Guy Mathot (PS)
* 2005–2006: Jacques Vandebosch (PS)
* 2006–2018: {{Ill|Alain Mathot|fr}} (PS)
* 2018–2023: {{Ill|Francis Bekaert|fr}} (PS)
* 2023–present: {{Ill|Déborah Géradon|fr}} (PS)

==Sights==
[[File:Château Val St. Lambert (1).jpg|thumb|[[Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey]]]]
{{See also|List of protected heritage sites in Seraing}}
*The [[Val Saint Lambert]] site includes the old [[Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey]] and the crystal manufacture, where glass workers still blow, carve, and etch the world-famous pieces of art.  The neighbouring castle houses a glass museum.
*The Cockerill castle used to be the summer residence of the [[List of bishops and prince-bishops of Liège|prince-bishops of Liège]], then a hospital under [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]], a powder magazine, and the personal property of [[William I of the Netherlands]], who ceded it to the Cockerill family in 1817.
*Besides the Cockerill castle, the historic centre of the city also includes the city hall and the main church, which harbours 12th-century [[baptismal font]]s.
*The forested region south of Seraing offers a multitude of strolls and hikes.

==Folklore==
[[File:Macrale.JPG|thumb|right|A ''macrale'']]
*According to an old local legend, witches ({{langx|wa|macrales}}) abound in the Seraing area.  The ''macrales'' have been resurrected in the year 2000 and are now a regular staple of the local folklore.
*Like many other towns in [[Wallonia]], Seraing has its own giant puppet: Li Rayeû d’class.
*Seraing also counts a number of colourful associations, including a [[cooper (profession)|coopers’]] [[fraternities and sororities|brotherhood]], whose goal is to revive the wineries of the Val Saint Lambert abbey, and the “Gay Boulet” brotherhood, whose mission is to popularize [[Boulets à la Liégeoise]], a local recipe.

==Notable people==
[[File:John Cockerill - statue and tomb.jpg|thumb|upright|[[John Cockerill (industrialist)|John Cockerill]] statue and tomb]]
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*[[John Cockerill (industrialist)|John Cockerill]], [[Great Britain|British]] [[entrepreneur]] and founder of the [[Cockerill-Sambre]] steel company (1790–1840)
*[[Eugenio Barsanti]], [[Italy|Italian]] inventor of the [[internal combustion engine]] (1821–1864)
*[[Leo Anton Karl de Ball]], [[astronomer]] (1853–1916)
*[[Julien Lahaut]], [[Communism|communist]] (1884–1950)
*[[Louis-Clément Picalausa]], Scout novelist (1898–1969)
*{{Interlanguage link multi|Charles Lecocq (poet)|fr|3=Charles Lecocq (poète)}}, (1901–1922)
*[[André Renard]] (Secretary-General of the [[General Federation of Belgian Labour]] and leader of the 60-61 General Strike) (1911–1962)
*[[Christian Piot]], [[football (soccer)|football]] [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] (b. 1947)
*[[Dardenne brothers|Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne]], [[filmmakers]] (b. 1951 and 1954, resp.)
*[[Laurette Onkelinx]], [[politician]] (b. 1958)
*[[Michel Preud'homme]], [[football (soccer)|football]] [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] (b. 1959)
*[[Gilbert Bodart]], football [[coach (sport)|coach]] (b. 1962)
*[[Marc Tarabella]], politician (b. 1963)
*[[Fabrizio Cassol]], [[saxophone]] and [[aulochrome]] player (b. 1964)
*[[Marc Laho]], opera singer (b. 1965)
*{{Interlanguage link multi|Alain Mathot|fr}}, politician (b. 1972)
*[[Michaël Goossens]], [[football (soccer)|football]] [[Striker (association football)|striker]] (b. 1973)
*[[Viktor Klonaridis]], football player (b. 1992)
*[[John Wartique]], racing driver (b. 1990)

==International relations==

{{Main|List of twin towns and sister cities in Belgium}}

===Twin towns—Sister cities===
Seraing is [[town twinning|twinned]] with:
*{{FRA}}: [[Douai]]
*{{ITA}}: [[Rimini]]
*{{FRA}}: [[Châtel, Haute-Savoie|Châtel]]

==See also ==
* [[Liège Science Park]]
* The [[Dardenne brothers]]' films ''[[L'Enfant (film)|L'Enfant]]'' and ''[[Deux jours, une nuit]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Official website|http://www.seraing.be }} {{in lang|fr}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050909020053/http://www.seraingautrefois.org/ Postcards and old photographs of Seraing]
* [http://www.stahlseite.de/esb.htm Steel mill in Seraing]

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Seraing
|N  = [[Saint-Nicolas, Liège|Saint-Nicolas]]
|E  = [[Liège]]
|SE = [[Esneux]]
|S  = [[Neupré]]
|W  = [[Flémalle]]
|NW = [[Grâce-Hollogne]]
}}
{{Municipalities in Liège}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Seraing| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Wallonia]]
[[Category:Sub-municipalities of Seraing]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Liège Province]]