Waterloo (Belgien) 6.34

Waterloo is a Walloon municipality in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of 21.03km². It is north of Braine-l'Alleud, which is the site of the Battle of Waterloo, where the resurgent Napoleon was defeated for the final time in 1815. Waterloo is a multilingual town; the commune offers services in French, Dutch, and English.EtymologyThe placename is of Dutch origin. The first element is most likely water, but it should be understood locally as "wet". The second element is lo(o), an ancient word for "forest" or "clearing in a forest", coming from the Latin words lucus (forest) or lucum (clearing in a forest), or Common Germanic lauh- (Anglo-Saxon lēah), cognate with the English placename suffix -ley or independent name Leigh. The early settlement was located on a marshy clearing in the Sonian Forest.HistoryThe name of Waterloo was mentioned for the first time in 1102 designating a small hamlet at the limit of a big forest along a major road linking Brussels and Genappe, and further south the coal mines area. Waterloo was located at the crossing of the main road with a path leading to a farm . The crossing still exists: chaussée de Bruxelles with Boulevard de la Cense. Waterloo was a place where travellers and carriers of goods could rest and escape the bandits at night.