The Faubourg du Quesnoy
("Quesnoy's Suburb") is scattered along Grand'Rue
Street in the north-west of Landrecies. It was named this way because this road
leads to a nearby town called Le Quesnoy. In the
background, you can see a bridge leading to Lower Town.
The origin of the second name of this suburb, "Soyères",
is quite controversial. It can be argued that this word comes from the medieval
word "seuwière" which means "aqueduct". Indeed an
aqueduct was built there in the 14th century. Some other people try to make a
connection with the "scieurs" (sawyers) of the
Mormal Forest, since this forest had to be cleared to build this neighborhood.
The last hypothesis deals with a man called Sohier, lord of Enghien. He was put
to death at Le Quesnoy in the 14th century during a
conflict with the lords of Hainaut. In other words all of this is still very
debatable.
The Faubourg du Quesnoy is located on a little
hill, and so it became a highly strategic place for soldiers throughout the
centuries. A lot of battles happened there, like the one for the
liberation of
Landrecies in 1918. Before the destruction of the ramparts, this suburb led to
one of the two gates of Landrecies : "Porte du Quesnoy"
(Le Quesnoy's gate).
