Cuesmes is a village south-west to the Belgian city of Mons, and has been in the administration of the city of Mons since 1971, in the province of Hainaut. The famous artist, Vincent van Gogh, lived here during the years of 1879- 1880, at Maison Van Gogh. Because Van Gogh used to live in Cuesmes, many people who live there now are fans of Van Gogh and his art.
History
Cuesmes was and originally is a coal mining village, as many of the residents who live there in the are descendants of coal miners from the 19th and 18th centuries. Coal mining is such a big part of Cuesmes and its culture that the village is surrounded in 'Slag Heaps', the most famous being Mount Héribus. Other Slag Heaps include Terril Du Lavunt, Terril Saint-Joseph, and Terril Sainte-Henriette. Terril Du Lavunt is 2.9 km away from Mount Héribus. Cuesmes community cemetery is the public graveyard for the village of Cuesmes. The cemetery contains 47 Commonwealth burials of the first world war, 9 of which are identified bodies, the rest are unidentifiable. The bodies date from August 1914 to November 1918, and were brought to the cemetery after the Armistice. The cemetery is located 2 km west of Mons.
People who were buried in Cuesmes
A full list can be found , but the names of the people are below:
Vincent Van Gogh lived at Maison Van Gogh in the years of 1879 and 1880. During his time there, he decided he wanted to be a painter, but, because of how nice he was, he went to one of the coal mines and felt sorry for their little pay and horrible work environment, so he worked at the coal mines for no pay for one year!
Geography
Cuesmes's geography is very convenient for the village as it is surrounded by villages and a city. The city of Mons gives protection from any invaders in the north east of the village, whilst the three towns, Hyon, Mesvin, and Ciply, give the village protection from the east. Its neighbouring town, Jemappes, has a road going through the middle of it called 'Rue de Cuesmes', this is because of how close they are together. As a whole, the village of Cuesmes is surrounded in Slag Heaps, this is because coal miners would dump large quantities of rock in areas, and they eventually built up into large hills around the mine shafts. When there's not houses or streets, there are large farming fields, and small areas with trees, such as the yard surrounding Maison Van Gogh.
