The Huffington Post described it as “the most extreme staircase in the world”. The Montagne de Bueren in Liège leads from the old town straight up the slope leading to the citadel on the summit.
This incredibly steep staircase was built in 1881. It was originally constructed so that soldiers could reach the garrison on the hill without having to use the old narrow alleys lined with bars and brothels.
The staircase takes its name from the fifteenth-century aristocrat Vincent de Bueren who saved the city from an attack by the Duke of Burgundy.
At the summit, you find a war memorial and a series of walking trails. But first you have to climb 373 stone steps. “Not for the weak hearted,” someone wrote on Tripadvisor.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
