Page 166 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

164  BEL GIUM AND L UXEMBOURG REGION B Y REGION

8 Leuven

Located within easy striking distance of Brussels, the historic
Flemish town of Leuven traces its origins to a fortified camp
constructed here by Julius Caesar. In medieval times, the town
became an important centre of the cloth trade, but it was as
a seat of learning that it achieved international prominence.
In 1425, Pope Martin V and Count John of Brabant founded
Leuven’s university, and by the mid-1500s it was one of
Europe’s most pres tigious aca demic institutions, the home
of such famous scholars as Erasmus and Mercator. Today, the
university exercises a strong influence over the town, and its
students give Leuven a vibrant atmos phere. The bars and
cafés flank ing the Oude Markt, a large square in the centre
of town, are especially popular. Adjoining the square is the Huge buttresses supporting the Gothic
medieval Grote Markt and just out of town is the Stella structure of St-Pieterskerk
Artois Brewery.
buy a ticket, they receive an
informative booklet in a choice
its stone work that of several languages.
the building excels,
with delicately R St-Pieterskerk and
carved tracery and Museum Schatkamer
detailed medieval van St Pieter
figures beneath 300 Grote Markt. Tel (016) 295133.
niche bases. There Open 10am–4:30pm Mon–Sat,
are grotesques of 11am–4:30pm Sun & public holidays.
every description as Closed Wed. & to museum.
well as repre- Across the square from the
Lively café society at the Oude Markt sentations of Stadhuis rises St-Pieterskerk, a
folktales and biblical massive church built over a
P Oude Markt stories, all of which are carved in period of 200 years from the
This handsome, cobblestoned an exuberant late-Gothic style. 1420s. The nave and aisles were
square is flanked by a tasteful Within the niche alcoves are completed first, but when the
ensemble of high-gabled brick 19th-century statues depicting twin towers of the western
buildings. Some of these date local dignitaries and politi cians. façade were finally added in
from the 18th century, while Guided tours (in Dutch and 1507, the foundations proved
others are compara tively new. several other languages) of the inadequate and it soon began to
At ground level, these buildings interior include three lavish sink. With money in short supply,
house the largest concentration reception rooms. When visitors it was decided to remove the top
of bars and cafés in town, and sections of the towers – hence
as such, attract the town’s the truncated versions of today.
univer sity students in droves. Inside the church, the
sweeping lines of the nave are
P Stadhuis intercepted by an impres sive
Grote Markt. Tel (016) 203020. 1499 rood screen and a Baroque
Open daily. & 8 obligatory; wooden pulpit depic t ing the
3pm daily. conversion of St Norbert (see
Built between 1439 and 1463 p167). Norbert was a wealthy but
from the profits of the cloth irreligious German noble, who
trade, Leuven’s Stadhuis was was hit by lightning while riding.
designed to demonstrate the His horse died, but he was
wealth of the city’s merchants. unhurt and this led him to
This tall and distinctive building devote himself to the Church.
is renowned for its lavishly The church also houses the
carved and decorated façade. treasury of St Peter which has
A line of narrow windows rises three exquisite paintings by Dirk
up over three floors beneath a Bouts (1415–75), including his
steeply pitched roof adorned Last Supper triptych, painted in
with dormer windows and 1468, and the gory yet sedate
pencil-thin turrets. However, The elaborate stonework and spires of Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus. Both
it is in the exquisite quality of Leuven’s Gothic town hall provide vivid glimpses of
For hotels and restaurants see p268 and pp286–8

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