NIVELLES (Flem., NyveV), a manufacturing town of South Brabant, Belgium, stands on the Thines, a small sub-tributary of the Scheldt, 18 miles by rail to the south of Brussels. The Romanesque church of St Gertrude, dating from the 11th century, is interesting, but the exterior suffered defacement in the 18th century, and the restoration of the tower, which suffered from fire in 1859, has not been successful. The treasury contains some valuable works of art. Nivelles has manufactures of woollen, cotton, linen, and paper, as well as a railway locomotive and carriage work, and does a considerable trade in corn and live stock, especially swine. The town owes its origin to a convent founded in 645 by Ida or Ita, the wife of Pippin of Landen. The population was 9825 in 1876, but is said to have been much larger in the 16th century.