Les Gottes

The museum cherishes the memory of the man dubbed the ‘Raphael of flowers’ and renowned worldwide for his roses.Pierre-Joseph, famous painter-aquarellist, was born in Saint-Hubert in 1759. At the age of 23, he left his hometown and moved to Paris. There he produced plates of plants and flowers (lilies, roses,...-for the most famous botanists of his time (‘L'Héritier’, ‘Candolles’...). In 1783, he will be attached to the King's collection of velines. This collection will have a place in the Botanical Garden that will become the Natural History Museum. Among his pupils we find Queen Marie-Antoinette, Empress Joséphine, wife of Napoleon I and Louise-Marie of Orleans, the first queen of the Belgians, wife of Leopold I. In 1840, Pierre-Joseph Redouté died in debt and poverty, despite his fame. His body rests in the cemetery of Père Lachaise in Paris.Numerous original works, prints and objects are on display at the museum, as well as engravings from the ‘Description of Egypt’ (Henri-Joseph Redouté - painter-zoologist, and brother of the famous watercolourist).

The Basilica of Saint-Hubert, well-known place of pilgrimage in honour of Saint-Hubert and recognised as exceptional heritage of Wallonia, charms visitors with its majesty and elegance. Her silhouette rises amid a beautiful frame of Ardennes forests.She is the spectacular witness to the dynamics of a Benedictine abbey that was closed down by the French revolutionaries. Several abbey churches, larger and larger, followed one another, both for monastic life and for the devotion of pilgrims.While the first foundations date back to the 7th century, the present building was mainly erected during the 16th century. The basilica is a veritable history book of architectural evolution, from the Romanesque style to the excesses of Gothic and Renaissance. The baroque of the façade from the early 18th century contrasts with the interior, where, the light makes the colours of the materials so intense: blue, yellow, pink stones, marble and wood.Info booklet on sale at the "Maison du Tourisme" and at the basilica FR/NL/EN/DE