The "seven fires" of Lent commemorate the resulting blaze to this day.

The residents of the brothel, however, were not purged by the fire; they instead simply moved to rue St-Nicolas where they continued to practice their art until 1990.

The gardener from the Celestine convent - whose name remains unknown - purchased the ruins not long after the fire, and dug six trenches to make bark tanning baths, which he lined with flat stones. These tanning baths were located under the central kitchen and the bar in L'Espièglerie. Eight more baths were dug under the "Tanneurs de Namur" hall and tavern.

The trenches themselves were demolished in 1986, and the stones re-used to build the stairway in the "Kurbali" room and the windowsills in the "Leanza" room.

The trenches for bark tanning were initially built outside, but gave off such a stench that the merchants in St-Nicolas and neighbouring streets saw their commerce suffer, inversely proportional to the growing (but nauseating) tanning trade. Conflict divided the two groups.

The 'Tanneries war' did not last long, however: Ferdinand "Le Galant", son of the Celestine gardener, became enamoured of Rosalie de Boneffe, one of the ladies in the rue St-Nicolas. (Rosalie de Boneffe claimed that she was 'honoured' by the Duke of Marlborough the evening before the battle of Ramillies! )

Thanks to Rosalie, merchants and tanners were able to reach a compromise and work together to build a structure around the tannin baths, which became the picturesque Tanners' Quarter. The odour of the tannin remained impregnated in the walls, however, and the commerce of Rue St-Nicolas prospered in the shadow of Notre-Dame.

The tanneries of Ferdinand "Le Galant" rapidly gained international renown. His calfskins, so thin and yet so strong, graced the fastest sailing ships.

The tanneries' day of glory was certainly May 20th (St-Bernadin), 1682, when Vauban (travelling incognito) stopped at place L'Ilon. The rue des Tanneries being too narrow for his equipment, he went up the narrow street on foot to buy some high-quality animal skins for the Sun King's royal headquarters during the siege of Namur.

Ferdinand "Le Galant" was known for producing animal skins that were waterproofed with a secret technique. The season had been so wet that it was the rain, and not the early summer sun, that concerned the Sun King.

Modern techniques aside, Ferdinand "Le Galant" was a republican and no supporter of the French king. Guessing that his client belonged to the other camp, he tricked Vauban by selling him worthless skins that had not been waterproofed.

He demanded his payment in Gulden, slighting his client by refusing to accept the Louis, and - although there is no corroboration for his story - claimed that he himself tipped the coachman into the reeking Houyoux from the wooden bridge that led to the tannery.

The skins fell in the water and were cleaned only poorly by the French soldiers in the Sambre river, in a shallow passage near Floreffe.

Racine ( acting as war correspondent) notes on May 27 1682:

"The King came out of his quarters
And despite the rain and the gun fire
Preferred the smell of powder
To the smell of his royal ...."

" Notre Roy Louis sortit du cabanon "
" Maugré (sic) la pluie et le tir du canon "
" Préférant l'odeur de la poudre "
" A la senteur de sa royale… "

The story about the fall in the Hoyoux spread quickly around Namur and Ferdinand "Le Galant" came to be better known as Ferdinand "L'Espiègle" ("The Clever").

In the 20th century, another clever fellow - but a little less gallant - closed 6 of the brothels. We do not know if he planned to close the two remaining buildings in Rue St-Nicolas as well, buildings who stand as witnesses to an often unhappy past...

And, as in the time of the Celestine nuns, the fervent partisans of this moralizing movement set their own cleansing fires in 1987, 1991 and 1993, but the quick and efficient work of the Namur fire department stopped history from repeating itself. The Namur police have never investigated these criminal fires, a grave insult to the memory of our clever republican.

Les Tanneurs de Namur (renovated from 1980 to 1991) is a monument to the glory of Wallonia, but also and above all a tribute to the craftspeople of the 17th and 20th centuries. The journeymen of the 20th century who worked to restore the site are truly exceptional artists.

They deserve to be named honourable citizens of Namur, city to which they have given the best of themselves, inspiring perhaps jealousy, contempt and anger from a few, but giving satisfaction and happiness to many others. One day, perhaps, the municipal administration will come to terms with the history of its marginalized "Espiègle", to which it continues to refuse adequate municipal signage - thus penalizing visitors to the beautiful region of Wallonia.

The renovation project for "Les Tanneurs de Namur" barely survived. The government almost triumphed over the lovers of Wallonia and its gorgeous historical stone structures. The unsubsidized renovation of Les Tanneurs de Namur was a long and arduous task...