Page 147 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

BEL GIUM AND L UXEMBOURG REGION B Y REGION  145

ANTWERP, FLEMISH

BRABANT AND LIMBURG

Magnificent castles and Gothic churches speak
eloquently of this region’s rich historic heritage.
The busy axis between Brussels and Antwerp is
a hothouse of contemporary culture and fashion. Further
east, the beauty and tranquillity of the countryside become
the keynotes, in the heaths and woodlands of the Kempen
and the sweetly rolling farmlands of the south.
From the River Scheldt in the west to Tongerlo and Averbode. In the 15th
the Province of Limburg is an area century, the dukes of Burgundy slowly
of age-old natural and historical beauty, pulled the region under their control –
with the straight roads built by the by marriage, diplomacy or ruthless force.
Romans around Tongeren, in eastern Towns such as Mechelen and Leuven
Limburg, still in use today. began to flourish, and by the 17th
In AD 843, the lands to the south and century, the port-city of Antwerp had
east of the River Scheldt were an area entered a Golden Age, echoed in the
called Lotharingia. These followed flamboyant paintings of Rubens.
a trajectory within the Holy Roman Today, visitors come to admire the
Empire, separate from that of the rest many vestiges of this history that are
of Flanders. Over the next few centuries, etched into the countryside and the
the land was further divided between fabric of the towns. They also come
the duchies of Brabant and Limburg, to immerse themselves in the natural
with the prince-bishopric of Liège charm of the landscape, to walk and
gaining control of southern Limburg. cycle, and to enjoy the great range of
During this period, the remote forests streekproducten, the food specialities
and woodlands of Eastern Flanders of the region, particularly from the
attracted religious communities, most farmlands and orchards of the Hageland
notably the Premonstratensians at and the Haspengouw.

A flat and tranquil landscape, characteristic of the agricultural regions of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Limburg
Ornate doorway of the Cathedral of Our Lady, built between the 14th and 16th century, Antwerp

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