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Web site of the Ename 974 Archaeological site

According to legend, the city of Oudenaarde was founded around an old Roman outpost and a fortification of the Visigoths that was built around 441. As from the 10th century, a fortified castle is mentioned. The city must have developed itself around this castle. In the 11th century a city wall was constructed.  Situated alongside the banks of the river Scheldt, Oudenaarde soon used this waterway for commercial purposes, much to the dislike of the traders of the mighty city of Ghent who saw Oudenaarde's success as a threat to their own wealth and the development of their city.

By the beginning of the 15th century, Oudenaarde had gained such an importance that the Council of Flanders decided to hold its meetings here. The city's success and wealth is, to a large extent, due to the tapestry manufacturers. Certain sources claim that in the 16th century some 20.000 people in the entire region were somehow connected to this important Flemish industry. When French troops annexed Oudenaarde at the end of the 17th century, Louis XIV of France demanded that the Oudenaarde tapestry weavers went to France to help their colleagues in Beauvais and Gobelin save their dying tapestry industry.

The 18th century saw the final decline of this once so important industry. Most tapestry manufacturies were closed. However, they left the world a unique heritage of the typical "Verdures", tapestries depicting scenes of nature with predominant green and blue colours.

In the course of its history Oudenaarde suffered the fate of many other Flemish cities and was repeatedly attacked, taken, bombed and destroyed. ( e.g : by the Duke of Parma in 1581, by the French troops in the 17th century, and during the First World War in 1918).  Despite this fate, the city has preserved some architectural and historical treasures that rank among the most important in Belgium and Flanders.

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