Vottem is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Herstal, located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The Rida river has its springs in Vottem. It was a fully-fledged municipality up to 1976. The Jolivet and Bernalmont hamlets had already been transferred to the town of Liège in 1975.

Hamlets and neighbourhoods

Geology and soils

Vottem is at the limit of the Hesbaye Plateau and the Meuse valley. From higher to lower locations in the village, there are the following geological formations: Locally, near the Rida springs, freshwater tufa has been deposited. Dominant soils in Vottem are well drained loamy soils (Ab) and gravelly loamy soils with silex, quite well drained also (Gb). The latter are directly related to outcrops of clay-with-flint. Remarkably, on the soil map, spring areas are not differentiated, most probably in relation to a low augering density (one per ha).

Important buildings

Public footpaths

Vottem holds 26 km of public footpaths, out of which 14 km are in good shape, 2 km are difficult (often included in croplands), 1 km illegally closed, 2 km inaccessible with unknown status and 5 km have been officially abandoned (often for sake of highway construction). This high density of footpaths is explained by the previous dominance of horticulture in this village. The intensive work in the gardens required a lot of foot mobility; and the products were transported to the local auction market by handcarts; the width of the footpaths was adjusted to these carts: minimum 1.17 metres.