Stavelot

Although Stavelot is practically a twin town of Malmédy, its traditions differ. Here Carnival is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent and is animated by about 2,000 Blancs-Moussis (White Monks), dressed in white with long capes and long bright-red noses, who swoop and rush through the streets. The Blancs-Moussis commemorate the monks of Stavelot, who in 1499 were forbidden to participate in Carnival but got around it by celebrating Laetare Sunday (three weeks before Easter). Stavelot was badly damaged in the Battle of the Bulge, but some picturesque old streets survive, particularly rue Haute, off place St-Remacle.