Dinant lies in the beautiful, rocky and peaceful landscape of the Meuse Valley. The past, however, has not often been peaceful. Because of its strategic situation on the Meuse river, Dinant has witnessed several battles and destructions that changed the historic heritage considerably.The main monument in the city center is the Notre Dame church (Our Lady's Church). It was built as a Romanesque church at the end of the 12th century. When in 1227 a part of the rock behind the church destroyed the tower, the Notre Dame church was partially rebuilt in Gothic Style. This new construction is still the dominating style of the choir and the northern transept. (Side-remark : in 1995 again a part of the rock destroyed a few houses on the left side of the church) In 1466 Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy and his son Charles the Bold punished an uprising in Dinant by setting fire to the city. 800 citizens were thrown in the Meuse river and a part of the church was destroyed. Originally, the church should have been crowned with two majestic towers. It soon became obvious that Dinant could never (financially ? ) cope with this plan and, therefore, the main entrance was crowned with a 68m high onion-shaped tower that, still today, serves as a landmark of the Dinant skyline. Inside the church are several religious objects, made in 'dinanderie'. Dinant became the late-medieval center for the manufacturing of metal and copper objects. Most religious metal objects in the churches of the Meuse-Rhine valley originate from Dinant .

ADOLPHE SAX (1814 - 1894) , the inventor of the saxophone was born in Dinant in 1814. His birth-house is situated in the Rue Sax at number 37. He worked mainly in France.