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Durnal

Introduction

Durnal is a large limestone and sandstone village spread over a pleasant south-facing slope.
The housing spread extensively towards the top of the hill in the 19th and 20th centuries.

History and Heritage

The caves at Durnal in the Bocq valley are connected to the "Nutons" and "Gatte d’Or" legends, which are a part of the poetic past of the region, as well as being a site where archeologists have found traces of very
old prehistoric homes.
The Durnal site still has remains of the Gallo-Roman population, who lived in the early centuries AD, in a locality which was well-suited for defence - one of the outposts of the ancient fortress on the site of which the feudal castle of Spontin was later built.

It is also evocative of the Frankish populations whose remains are buried in the large cemetery which encroaches over the boundaries of Spontin and Durnal.

Around the 12th century, the territory of Durnal was divided into 2 parts:
one was part of the Namur estate in Spontin, a dependency of the prevostship of Poilvache, and the other a was dependency of the Liege borough of Ciney.
Durnal was one of the border posts between the County of Namur and the principality of Liege, which were particularly intertwined in this part of the Condroz.

The parish was not founded until 1846, the municipality in 1850.
Around 1850 and until the end of the 19th century, its economic life was dominated by farming. There were increasing amounts of grassland due to the more intense livestock farming, which focused first on sheep and later on cattle. Industry became a secondary part of Spontin's economy, focusing on stone quarrying. In 1961, 75 people were employed in this industry in Durnal.

Heritage