Chaudfontaine

Chaudfontaine occupies a particular niche within Wallonia’s geographic and cultural landscape. Set just ten kilometres southeast of Liège, this municipality of 25.52 km² unfolds along the Vesdre River, a tributary of the Meuse. Its name—rendered in French as [ʃofɔ̃tɛn] and in Walloon as Tchôfontinne—literally means “hot fountain,” a reference to the thermal springs that have shaped the town’s identity for more than three centuries. With a population of 21 012 in 2006 and 20 600 at the beginning of 2024, Chaudfontaine balances modest size with a density of roughly 823 inhabitants per square kilometre, offering a scale that feels neither urban nor rural but something between the two.

The municipality comprises four districts—Beaufays, Chaudfontaine proper, Embourg and Vaux-sous-Chèvremont—each contributing a distinct layer to the commune’s heritage. The landscape bears the imprint of successive eras: monastic foundations in the Middle Ages, industrial expansion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and a modern turn towards tourism and wellness built around its mineral waters. Even today, enterprises such as Galler chocolates, Magotteaux and the Chaudfontaine water brand underscore an economy both diverse and rooted in local resources.

The story of Chaudfontaine begins with the springs themselves. Formal use of the thermal waters dates back to 1676, when physicians first recognised their consistent temperature of 36.6 °C and their potential for health. Over time, these springs acquired a reputation that outstripped those of other Belgian locales; indeed, Chaudfontaine remains the nation’s only spa town centred on natural thermal sources. By the early eighteenth century, cannon founders and armorers from Liège had sought refuge here, drawn by clean air and a more bucolic setting than the industrial city. Circa 1715, the growing community erected a chapel to serve both the influx of spa visitors and the resident population—a modest edifice that would presage the town’s gradual conversion into a retreat for convalescence and repose.

Among the earliest settlements was Beaufays, mentioned already in the twelfth century as the site of a small monastery. Embourg, by contrast, traces its roots to the mid-sixth century, when Saint Monulphus, Bishop of Tongeren, is said to have founded a chapel and a cluster of dwellings around 556 CE. Vaux-sous-Chèvremont witnessed its own phase of activity in the first decades of the eighteenth century, with the opening of coal mines, glassworks and hammer mills that exploited the valley’s natural deposits of limestone and coal. These operations laid the groundwork for a wave of industrial growth that continued well into the nineteenth century, when rolling mills and stone quarries further transformed the landscape.

Chaudfontaine’s thermal springs are the defining natural resource of the municipality. Emerging from fissures in the rocky subsoil at a stable 36.6 °C, the waters fall into two broad categories. Some sources yield low-mineralised water that the Belgian Academy of Medicine recommends for infant feeding; this product is bottled on site and distributed under the Chaudfontaine label, now managed by the Coca-Cola Company since 2003. Other springs, richer in silica and trace elements, serve exclusively for spa treatments. Over the centuries, physicians and bath-house operators have employed these baths to alleviate joint stiffness and rheumatic pain, crafting a local reputation for therapeutic efficacy.

The famed French writer Victor Hugo caught something of the place’s quiet allure when he dubbed Chaudfontaine the “violet of spas,” a sobriquet that hints at understated charm rather than flamboyant grandeur. Unlike more ostentatious resorts, Chaudfontaine’s spa facilities retain an unpretentious quality. A cluster of pavilion-style bathhouses lines the banks of the Vesdre, their façades reflected in the river’s gentle current. Visitors can choose from individual treatment rooms, thermal pools or hydro-massage installations, each set amid lawns and shaded terraces.

Dominating the eastern approach to the town stands the Fort de Chaudfontaine, part of the late nineteenth-century ring of fortifications built to defend Liège. Although it suffered partial destruction during Germany’s breakthrough in May 1940, the fort endures as a ruin slowly reclaimed by vegetation. Today it functions as an adventure-trail centre, with ropes courses and guided walks that follow the old ramparts—an interplay of stone battlements and spring-green undergrowth. From this high vantage, paths descend toward the casino and the thermal park, or veer off toward the quieter lanes of Vaux-sous-Chèvremont.

On Chèvremont Hill itself stands a basilica whose neoclassical lines and broad cupola preside over the valley. Beyond its role as a place of worship, the basilica offers one of the region’s finest panoramic views: to the west, the wooded slopes of Cointe Hill; to the northeast, the urban sprawl of Coronmeuse; and, in between, the meandering waters of the Vesdre. A narrow stone stairway climbs the hillside from the village below, inviting pilgrims and casual walkers alike to pause and contemplate the course of the river as it makes its way toward Liège.

While tourism and wellness form a visible thread in Chaudfontaine’s identity, local industry remains significant. Magotteaux, a manufacturer of wear-resistant castings and linings for mining and cement plants, employs skilled engineers and technicians who draw on a tradition of metalworking that stretches back to the armorers of the eighteenth century. Galler, a chocolatier known across Belgium for its artisanal confections, sustains a factory and showroom that welcome both retail customers and wholesale clients. Alongside these, the Chaudfontaine water bottling plant processes and labels millions of bottles each year, making it one of the region’s larger employers.

Administratively, Chaudfontaine is a member of GREOVA, the Regional Economic Group of the Ourthe, Vesdre and Amblève valleys, a collaborative body that coordinates infrastructure projects and tourism promotion across neighbouring communes. Through this partnership, the municipality has invested in cycle paths, river-bank promenades and interpretive panels that recount local history, binding the area’s villages into a coherent tourist corridor.

Although its atmosphere is distinctly provincial, Chaudfontaine enjoys reliable rail connections. A local station on the Aachen–Liège line is served by trains of the Liège S-Bahn network, linking residents to Liège-Guillemins station in under twenty minutes and providing onward services to Aachen in Germany. Regional bus routes supplement the trains, ensuring that each of the four districts—Beaufays, Chaudfontaine, Embourg and Vaux-sous-Chèvremont—remains within easy reach of urban amenities.

In July 2021, torrential rains triggered widespread flooding across Western Europe, and Chaudfontaine found itself among the hardest-hit municipalities. The Vesdre overflowed its banks, inundating streets and cellars, damaging infrastructure and forcing the evacuation of several hundred residents. Belgium’s interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, declared a national state of emergency and visited the town alongside King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, underscoring the severity of the crisis.

In the months that followed, local authorities and volunteers coordinated cleanup efforts, reinforcing riverbanks and repairing bridges. The fort’s adventure-trail operators adapted walkways to accommodate higher water levels, and spa management installed flood‐resistant barriers around vulnerable pump houses. By combining public funds with private support, Chaudfontaine demonstrated a capacity for collective recovery that resonated beyond its borders.

Today, Chaudfontaine maintains the delicate balance of a place shaped by its springs, its history and its industry. The village squares and narrow lanes of Embourg recall early medieval origins; the Aragon-style façade of the former monastery at Beaufays speaks to a different era of spiritual life; industrial relics in Vaux underscore the region’s manufacturing past. Yet each layer has been woven into a living community, one that cultivates wellness, commerce and cultural memory in equal measure.

For visitors, a day in Chaudfontaine might begin with a soak in a thermal pool, followed by a tasting of chocolates at Galler or a guided tour of Magotteaux’s workshops. An afternoon train trip to Liège allows for museum visits or an evening concert, after which one returns to the hush of the Vesdre’s banks, the lights of the town reflected in the dark water. In winter, mist can rise from the river to cloak the hillsides, while in summer the sound of children playing by the springheads mingles with birdsong.

Far from a mere resort, Chaudfontaine stands as an example of how geological fortune—in this case, the gift of thermal water—can anchor a locality through centuries of change. Its spas, factories and railways all attest to human ingenuity harnessing natural endowments. At the same time, the basilica and the fort bear witness to the town’s strategic and spiritual significance. In combining these elements, Chaudfontaine achieves a kind of harmony rare among small European towns: a place where leisure, labour and history converge, sustained by the steady flow of water that gave it its name.