Saint-Ghislain

For the 7th-century Belgian saint, see Saint Ghislain.

Saint-Ghislain
Municipality
Saint-Ghislain: the former town hall (1752), the new church, and the tower of the old church (16th century) Saint-Ghislain: the former town hall (1752), the new church, and the tower of the old church (16th century)
Flag of Saint-Ghislain Flag Coat of arms of Saint-Ghislain Coat of arms
Saint-Ghislain Location in Belgium
Location of Saint-Ghislain in Hainaut 250x250px
Coordinates:
Country	Belgium
Community	French Community
Region	Wallonia
Province	Hainaut
Arrondissement	Mons
Government
• Mayor	Daniel Olivier
• Governing party/ies	PS
Area
• Total	70.18 km2 (27.10 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2013)
• Total	23,004
• Density	330/km2 (850/sq mi)
Postal codes	7330-7334
Area codes	065
Website	www.saint-ghislain.be

Saint-Ghislain (Picard: Sint-Guilin) is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 22,466 inhabitants. The total area is 70.18 km², giving a population density of 320 inhabitants per km².

History

The town is named after Saint Ghislain. In the 7th century, with two unknown disciples Ghislain made a clearing in the vicinity of Castrilocus (now Mons), later taking up his abode at a place called Ursidongus, where he built an oratory or chapel dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Ursidongus was later named after him.

Economy

Google chose Saint-Ghislain in 2007 to host its new major European datacenter. Google currently has 12 people employed full-time as of 13 October 2011.

People born in Saint-Ghislain

• Johannes Ockeghem, composer (between 1410 and 1425)

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons