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Maissin (Belgium)

Maissin is a village that is part of the Belgian municipality of Paliseul located in the Walloon Region, more precisely in the province of Luxembourg.

This Ardennes village is situated in a curve of the Lesse (the left bank), in the upper course of this river (this part is called "Haute-Lesse").

Before the fusion of the municipalities in 1977, Maissin was a municipality in its own right.

Etymology
In 817, the village was called Melsim. In the twelfth century, the name of the village changed, it became Melsinensem, meaning the property of Malisa or Malisius (suffix -inum), both Gallo-Roman anthroponyms. Jules Herbillon has suggested that it is an antonym of "Beausaint".

History
Maissin was formerly a municipality of the Sambre-et-Meuse department under the French regime. In 1823, Maissin merged with Villence against the will of its inhabitants. In 1896, Maissin became a separate municipality again. As a result of the fusion of municipalities in 1977, the village of Maissin has become part of the municipality of Paliseul.

Maissin was the scene of a deadly battle during the First World War on 22-23 August 1914.

Nowadays, the village is still marked by the memories of war, especially through the names of the streets and the avenues which are named after French officers. For example: Avenue Commandant de Large de Meux, Rue du 19e régiment d'infanterie de Brest, rue Henry Calvez, etc. A monument dedicated to civilian victims and two monuments commemorating Breton and Vendéen soldiers have been erected in the village.

The village also includes several maisons de comité, small brick houses built from 1915 to house villagers whose homes had been destroyed by the Germans at the beginning of the First World War.

Heritage

 * Dating from the 17th century, the Marie-Thérèse bridge on the river Lesse
 * Built in the 19th century, Le pont de la Justice ("The bridge of Justice") is another bridge on the Lesse.
 * Saint-Hadelin church (built around 1855-1856), its stained glass windows (1932) and its organ (in the 1950s)
 * The beech 'Ollivier': a piece of beechwood carved by Henry Ollivier, a French soldier, before the fighting on 22 August 1914 in a wood of the village. The carved part of the tree is exhibited in the porch of Saint-Hadelin church.
 * The village also included a musical association (created in 1877). It no longer exists.
 * Maissin also had two sports clubs: football and table tennis. They no longer exist.