Ath (French pronunciation: ​[at]; Dutch: Aat, Picard: Ât) is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Hainaut. The Ath municipality includes the old communes of Lanquesaint, Irchonwelz, Ormeignies, Bouvignies, Ostiches, Rebaix, Maffle, Arbre, Houtaing, Ligne, Mainvault, Moulbaix, Villers-Notre-Dame, Villers-Saint-Amand, Ghislenghien (Dutch: Gellingen), Isières, Meslin-l'Evêque, and Gibecq.

Ath is known as the "City of Giants" after the "Ducasse" festivities which take place every year on the fourth weekend in August. Huge figures representing Goliath, Samson, and other allegoric figures are paraded through the streets, and Goliath's wedding and his famous fight with David are re-enacted.

History

Pre–1500

Archeological records show the existence of several Gallo-Roman settlements in the Ath area. The origin of the city of Ath, however, dates from around 1160, when Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut, bought some territory from his liegeman, Gilles de Trazegnies. A few years later, Baldwin built the Burbant Tower – which can still be seen today – to protect his new acquisition. The new city was soon given privileges and its newly built (1325) market hall on the Grand-Place began to attract residents.

Ath is a city in Belgium.

The acronym ATH may also refer to:

See also

Crest of the Stars (Japanese: 星界の紋章, Hepburn: Seikai no Monshō) is a three-volumespace opera science fiction novel written by Hiroyuki Morioka with cover illustrations by Toshihiro Ono. Beginning in 1999, the novels were adapted into anime series, the first of which ran for 13 episodes on WOWOW. The initial novel was followed by a second, ongoing novels series, Banner of the Stars (currently 5 volumes, aka Seikai no Senki), which was adapted into three sequel series to the anime—Banner of the Stars (13 episodes, aka Seikai no Senki), Banner of the Stars II (10 episodes, aka Seikai no Senki II) and both adapting the second novel, two recap movies—Crest of the Stars Special Edition and Banner of the Stars Special Edition, and an OVA Crest of the Stars Lost Chapter (aka Seikai no Danshō). The fourth anime series, adapting the third novel, Banner of the Stars III (aka Seikai no Senki III) is an OVA released in Japan in 2005.

Plot

Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars (series I and II) follow Jinto Lynn, a young count whose world is taken over by the space-dwelling race of the Abh. When Jinto was a young boy, his father, Rock Lynn, under threat of invasion, handed over their world, Martine, to the Abh in exchange for a position within Abh society. Young Jinto is sent off to school to learn the ways of Abh nobility and the story of Crest of the Stars picks up as he meets the young Abh princess, Lafiel as they are about to travel to military school for Jinto's further training.