Page 145 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

WEST AND EAST FLANDERS  143

f Dendermonde from musical boxes to early
gramophones – historical hair-
30 km (19 miles) E of Ghent.
Road Map C2. * 43,000. £ @ dressing salons (the Barbierama),
n Stadhuis, Grote Markt; (052) 18th-century apothecary jars
213956. ( Mon. and reconstructions of life in
∑ toerismedendermonde.be medieval times based around
archaeological finds at the
Its position at the confluence Boudelo Abbey close by.
of the Scheldt and Dender has Interactive touchscreens give
made Dendermonde (literally, more background information.
Mouth of the River Dender) Set in a Neo-Classical town
a strategically important mansion built during 1928 and
location throughout history, 1929, the Salons voor Schone
even in 1914, when the town A statue of the benevolent saint outside the Kunsten has elegantly furnished
was sacked by the Germans. Stadhuis at St-Niklaas rooms and a collection of
Today, it is a quiet commuter paintings by noted 19th-century
town, famed above all for its g St-Niklaas Belgian artists such as Henri de
celebrated pageant of the steed 39 km (24 miles) NE of Ghent. Braekeleer, Henri Evenepoel,
Bayard, which dates back to the Road Map C1. * 70,000. £ @ James Ensor, Jan Stobbaerts
15th century and is performed n Grote Markt 45; (03) 7783500. and Hippolyte Boulenger.
every ten years, with the next ( Thu. ∑ sint-niklaas.be The great Renaissance
such triumphal procession of a geographer and cartographer
horse and its four riders due to The sprawling town of Gerardus Mercator (1512– 94),
take place in 2020. St-Niklaas is the commercial creator of the familiar Mercator
Dendermonde’s attractive centre of Waasland, an area of Projection, was born nearby at
Grote Markt is flanked by the drained marshes that have Rupelmonde. Dedicated to him,
steepled turret and step-gables become productive farmland. the Mercatormuseum explores
of its 15th-century Vleeshuis St-Niklaas’s Grote Markt is the his contributions to the history
(Meat Hall), which now contains largest market square in the of cartography.
a town museum. The Stadhuis country. Surrounded by a
was originally built as a cloth number of attractive 17th- E Ste.M
hall in the 14th century. It was century buildings and an Zwijgershoek 14. Tel (03) 7783450.
wrecked in 1914 and restored to elegant 19th-century Stadhuis, Open 2–5pm Tue–Sat and
its original medieval architectural the square really comes alive 11am–5pm Sun. &
splendour in the 1920s. Its belfry on market days as well as in E Salons voor Schone Kunsten
has a carillon of 49 bells. The early September when scores Stationsstraat 85. Tel (03) 7781745.
town’s Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, of hot-air balloons gather for Open 2–5pm Thu–Sat & 11am–5pm
built between the 13th and the Vredesfeesten (literally, Sun. Closed mid-Dec–mid-Jan. &
15th centuries, has a remarkable Peace Festivities). E Mercatormuseum
12th- century carved stone font, The intriguing Ste.M (Stedelijk Zamanstraat 49. Tel (03) 7603783.
and two paintings by Anthony Museum) includes a collection Open 2–5pm Tue–Sat, 11am–5pm
van Dyck – the Adoration of the of music recording machines – Sun. &
Shepherds (c.1616) and the
Crucifixion (c.1628).
To the south of the River The Legend of the Steed Bayard
Dender, in the beguiling Set in the times of Charlemagne, the legend of the steed Bayard
St-Alexiusbegijnhof, are rows recounts the derring-do of four knights and a powerful horse.
of attractive 17th-century The knights were the four sons of Aymon, Lord of
houses lining a triangular green. Dendermonde, and Aya, Charlemagne’s sister. One of
Located here is a small museum them, Reinout, subdued the ferocious steed Bayard.
about the béguinage as well as In a quarrel over the horse, Reinout killed
a folk museum. Charlemagne’s jealous son Lodewijk, after
which the brothers, riding the mighty steed,
Environs defended themselves from the emperor’s
Situated 15 km (9 miles) to the wrath. Finally, as a condition of peace,
west, Donkmeer is a lakeland Reinout agreed to kill the steed Bayard.
Seeing how Reinout had rejected him, the
area famed as the place to eat valiant horse sacrificed himself in the river.
eel dishes such as anguilles au Dendermonde’s famous pageant today, the
vert – paling in’t groen in Dutch – Ros Beiaardommegang, centres upon a
(see p274). There is also an giant model of the horse ridden by the
agreeable nature reserve known Aymon brothers in full armour, a role
as De Eendenkooi (The Duck always taken by four real brothers Statue of the steed Bayard with
Pen), where visitors can spot from Dendermonde. three of the Aymon brothers visible
herons, storks and other birds.

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