Old Historical Flemish Towns Surrounding Brussels

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: M - Museum Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28, Leuven 3000 Belgium

Leuven owes its fame to its university, the oldest in Belgium, founded in 1425 at the instigation of Pope Martin V and at the request of John IV, Duke of Brabant. It soon became one of the most prestigious universities in Europe. In 1517 Erasmus ( house to be visited in Brussels ), founded the Collegium Trilingue, where Hebrew, Latin and Greek were taught. It was to serve as a model for the Collège de France in Paris.

We will visit :

On the Grote Markt, we will admire the Leuven's extraordinary town hall. It was built in the mid -15C. In the reign of Philip the Good, in Flamboyant Gothic style. Next to it, we will discover the Sint Pieterskerk (St. Peter's Basilica), (church), dedicated to St. Pieter, built in the 15C and 16C in Brabant Gothic style, on the site of a Romanesque church.

The 16C facade was intended to have three tall towers, however the ground was unstable and the west front remained unfinished. The Treasury is a veritable museum of religious art, it contains magnificent paintings and sculptures. The Museum Vander Kelen-Mertens, is certainly a place to visit, with its marvellous art collections.

We won't live Leuven without passing the Old Beguinage.

Duration: 3 hours

Stop At: Grote Markt, Mechelen Belgium

A rich heritage of palaces, public buildings and fine old dwellings lining streets, squares and quaysides, testifies to Mechelen's splendid past. The Grote Markt ( Grand'Place), Mechelen's main square is lined with lovely 16C and 18C buildings. The Town hall stands on the east side of the square. Construction work began on the Late Gothic. It remained unfinished until the early 20C !!! , when it was completed using Rombout Keldermans ( dynasty of architects, builders of the Cathedral also ), original plans.

The central façade with its corbelled turrets is in fact the front of the never completed 14C belfry.

The old city center is dominated by the magnificent St. Rumbold's Cathedral tower with its famous carillon. This Gothic building is remarkable for its grandiose tower which is as wide as the nave. This Tower, one of the finest in Belgium, forms the facade and porch. Its measures 97m/318ft in height. It was designated to reach the extraordinary height of 167m/548ft, but the project was shelved in 1521.

Worth a visit ( only Sat 10h.30 am. July closed)

The de Wit Royal Tapestry Manufactry. Housed in the magnificent setting of the 15C refuge of Tongerlo Abbey. Remarkable collection of old tapestries, an excellent introduction to the way in which this art has developed from the 16C to today. The guided tour leads through the workshops and there are demonstrations of the various stages in the making of a tapestry.

Duration: 3 hours

Stop At: Lier Historical Town, Grote Markt, Lier 2500 Belgium

This attractive little town still has its 16C walls, which have been turned into esplanades and edges with a canal. The Grand' Place has a very special character with its Town hall in the center, a very elegant 18C structure. Beside the Town Hall is a slender Gothic belfry (1369) surmounted with four corner turrets.

It includes a carillon which was once part of the old drapers' guildhall. Several old guildhalls surround the square, where a market is hold every Saturday. In the past, members of the rhetorical chamber met at the Eyken boom ( oak tree ), which dates from 1709. Near the belfry the butchers' guildhall has retained its crowstepped gables and perron guarded by two heraldic lions.

The Saint Gummarus Church was built between the 14C and the 16C. Philip the Handsome married Joanna of Castille here in 1496. The massive square tower, ending in an octogonal bell-tower, is known as the Pepperpot because of its shape. The magnificent rood screen, a later work (1536) than its Flamboyant Gothic style suggests, was carved by sculptors from Mechelen. The church has also a beautiful collection of windows.

A 15C stained glass window depicts the Coronation of the Virgin in a medaillon. Maximillian of Austria presented the church with many of the stained-glasses windows in the chancel during his visit in 1516. One of them shows him with his wife, Mary of Burgondy. The Beguine convent was founded in the early 13C, although most of the buildings date from the 17C.

The small picturesque houses line narrow paved streets. The houses are not numbered but bear evocative names, such as The Flight into Egypt and The Five Small Wounds.

Duration: 2 hours