'Quartier du Rempart' District

Our restaurant lies in a historic district between the Semois and the castle, shaped by four streets: Quai du Rempart, Rue du Moulin, Rue du Glacis, and Rue de l’Imprimerie.

Quai du Rempart & Rue du Glacis:
These names recall Bouillon’s former city walls, built by Vauban around 1690. A 3.5-meter-high wall with battlements and nine bastions defended the city. One of the three gates—Porte de France—was near here. “Glacis” refers to the sloped terrain around fortifications.

Rue du Moulin (Mill Street):
This street housed a castle-owned watermill, fed by a branch of the Semois split off at La Vanne. The mill stood near today’s Hôtel du Roy. The mill is gone, but the stream branch remains, now used as a kayak landing.

Rue de l’Imprimerie:
This alley leads to the site where Pierre Rousseau set up the Société Typographique, a major Enlightenment-era printing house. Rousseau fled French censorship and moved to Bouillon in 1760, publishing the successful Journal Encyclopédique. Bouillon thrived from this press.

Later, the house became the birthplace of painter Angelina Drumaux (1881), daughter of poet Arthur Drumaux. She painted in an impressionist/luminist style and became known as La Fée des Fleurs. Painter Guillaume Edeline also lived and worked here for a time.

The district was heavily bombed on 12 May 1940 during WWII due to the strategic value of nearby bridges.