Ciney - The city where the Guerre de la Vache (War of the Cow) started.

I arrived in the very quiet city of Ciney which I had not been to before. Ciney is a small town in the middle of Condoz region. It is not really touristic but it is at its best only famous for two things its beer and its cattle.

Beer has been brewed in Ciney since 1450. The modern Ciney beer is either blonde or brown, and the crown version is recognized as one of the most famous beers in Belgium, which says a lot.

Ciney has the largest cattle market in Belgium, with 4000 animals passing by there every week. On the fields outside of the city you see cattle everywhere. Ciney calls itself the capital of the “blond bleu Belge” and the beef from the Frisian (Holstein) cows is one of the best pieces of meat you can get.

Ciney cows are also well known for having started the famous “Guerre de la Vache” e.g. war of the cow in the Middle Ages. The war that lasted from 1275-1278 and more than 15.000 people got killed and 60 villages destroyed. The war started by a peasant stealing a cow from another village and selling it at a village market in another region, where the owner recognized his cow.