LIEGE, capital of the province of the same name, is situated on the Meuse, immedi. ately below its confluence with the Ourthe, in a magnificent plain. A hill rises on each side of the city, one of which is occupied by the citadel. The river which divides Liege into two parts, the old and the new town, is crossed by 17 bridges. Liege is said to be the most picturesque city in Belgium. Many of th,3 public buildings are fine, especially the churches, of which the principal are the of St. James (founded 1014; finished 1538), the cathedral (finished 1557), the church of St. Martin's, the church of the Holy Cross (consecrated 979), and St. Barthelemy (which has 5 naves). The palace of justice, with its paintings and 60 rooms—formerly the residence of the episco pal princes of Liege—and the university, noted for its mining-school, also deserve mention. The general interior of the city, however, is by no means pleasant; everything is blackened by the smoke of the coal-pits, which have been worked for 300 years; the streets are narrow, the houses high, badly aired, and uncleanly. The manufacture of
arms is the great staple of industry. Everywhere the hammer is heard; countless forges. flash cut their sudden sparks; and Whole streets are red with the reflection of fires. All kinds of steam-machinery, locomotives, steamboats, etg., are made here for Germany. In the immediate neighborhood are important zinc foundries. Liege is connected by railways with Brussels, Antwerp, Namur, etc. Pop. in '78, 113,774; in '75, 117,638.
Liege became time seat of a bishop in the 8th c., and continued to be so until 1794; and its bishops were reckoned among the princes of the German empire; but as it early acquired considerable magnitude and importance, its inhabitauts maintained a struggle for their own independence against their bishops, in which frequent appeals were made to arms. During the wars of Louis XIV., it was several times taken and retaken.