Namur's central square has been marred by a 1980s department store yet still features the elegant stone-and-brick Palais des Congrès conference centre, rebuilt in the 1930s with war reparations from Germany (the German army having torched the whole square in 1914). Behind lies the Unesco-listed Beffroi, a medieval stone fortress tower with an 18th-century clock spire.

　　Just off the square, behind a statue of beloved local composer Nicolas Bosret, hides a tiny stone seat. This is where the Roi des Menteurs (King of the Liars) is crowned during September's amusingly drunken Fêtes de Wallonie festivities.