User:Laurec1996/Saint-Mard, Belgium

Saint-Mard (Belgium)

Saint-Mard ( in Gaumais Sié-Mâ or Sî-Mâ, in Walloon Sint-Må-dlé-Vierton) is a village which is part of the municipality of Virton situated in Wallonia in the Belgian province of Luxembourg.

Contents

•	1. History

•	2. Geography

•	3. Life in Saint-Mard

o	3.1. Folklore

•	4. Personalities

History

Saint-Mard was an independent municipality before the fusion of the municipalities in 1977 and had its own coat of arms. Saint-Mard was known at the beginning of the XXth century to be the country of the basket makers because of the cultivation of willow. Professionals or even amateurs made small but also bigger basketry. There were also lots of cultivators and small firms. At this time, the municipality witnessed the railway extension and opened the depot for the steam-driven machines which was then transferred to Latour, a nearby village. Lots of railway employees lived in this municipality. The railway line 165 Athus-Libramont currently stops in the Virton-Saint-Mard railway station.

Geography

Situated just in the south of Virton, the village is crossed by the national road 88 which linked Florenville to Athus (Aubange). The village is also crossed by the Vire and the Ton rivers, the former flows into the later at the western borders of the village before going on its journey towards the Chiers river.

Life in Saint Mard

Folklore

This village is also known for its festival which takes place at the end of August, generally on Tuesday. The Royal Philharmonic of Saint-Mard plays polkas, marches, schottisches, etc. and obviously the Troika and the quadrille. All the inhabitants of Saint-Mard but also from the nearby villages gather together around the pavilion (1886) a building classed as heritage and recently refurbished. During the weekend of the 4th Sunday of August, the beginning is on Friday with the youth ball until Wednesday « the funeral of the festival ». On Tuesday, the youth festival takes place, the philharmonic picks some youth in the village and take them to the Mass. The young master, dressed with a costume, decides which way to take in the village. Then, there is a speech of the mayor at the cultural centre. The day finishes on the pavilion where the philharmonic plays the traditional troika and other folkloric songs with a glass of rosé in the hands. Everybody has a folkloric costume, for the men, a blue smock and black trousers with a bow around the neck and for the women, a black bolero on a white blouse and a bright red dress.

Personalities

•	Camille Barthélemy (1890-1961), artist

•	Jean-Claude Watrin (1951-), singer songwriter