Page 168 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

166  BEL GIUM AND L UXEMBOURG REGION B Y REGION

0 Onze-Lieve- many buildings of the inner
Vrouw van court are from the 17th century.
Scherpenheuvel This was built over 1664–72
with an icing­sugar­white interior
Isabellaplein, Scherpenheuvel; 10 km offset by Baroque ornament a tion
(6 miles) E of Aarschot. Road Map D2. in black and grey marble, all lit by
Tel (013) 355641. @ n Basilieklaan clear­glass windows. South of
16; (013) 772081. Open 7:30am– the abbey, marked walking trails
6:30pm daily. 7 = 5 lead into the Averbode Bos en
_ Kaarskensprocessie (Nov).
Heide, a large area of woodland
and heath. Although the abbey is
Once the site of a sacred oak closed to visitors, the church and
tree, Scherpenheuvel (Sharp Hill) its grounds are open.
remains a revered pilgrim age
site. In the 14th century, a statue
of Mary and the child Jesus was w Diest
placed here and became known 10 km (6 miles) S of Averbode.
for the miraculous healing Road Map D2. * 23,000. £ @
powers it was reputed to have. n Grote Markt 1; (013) 353274.
The distinctive bulbous spire of Aarschot’s How ever, it was destroyed by ∑ toerismediest.be
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk Protestant iconoclasts in 1580.
In 1605, the Infanta Isabella As it belonged to the House of
9 Aarschot and Archduke Albert, joint gov­ Orange from 1499 to 1794, and
ern ors of the Spanish Netherlands, has connections with the present
16 km (10 miles) NE of Leuven.
Road Map D2. * 28,000. £ @ ordered the con struc tion of the royal family of the Netherlands,
n Elisabethlaan 103; (016) 569705. present ele gant Baroque Basilica Diest calls itself the “Oranje stad”.
∑ hetgasthuis.be/toerisme of Our Lady. Mass is held four A network of shopping streets
times a day in its richly ornate leads up to the handsome,
The pleasant, busy town of inter ior before an elaborately L­shaped Grote Markt, over­
Aarschot on the River Demer lies dressed copy of the original statue. looked by the 18th­century Neo­
in the undulat ing, agri cultural Classical Stadhuis. The medieval
region of eastern Vlaams­ q Abdij van crypt of the Stadhuis contains
Brabant known as Hageland the Stadsmuseum de Hofstadt,
(Hedge Country). The town’s Averbode which has an admirable coll­
most striking building is the Abdijstraat 1B, Averbode, 11 km ection of pain tings, sculpture,
14th­century Onze-Lieve- (7 miles) NE of Scherpenheuvel. armour, furniture and silver ware.
Vrouwekerk built in the Gothic Road Map D2. Tel (013) 780440. @ Next to it stands the Gothic
style, with iron­rich, rust­red Open 10am–12pm and 1–5:30pm St-Sulpitiuskerk, the church of
sandstone, and an immediately daily. = ∑ abdijaverbode.be St Sulpice who was a 7th­century
recognizable black onion­shaped saint. Much of the exterior of the
spire. The striped interior contains A large and active abbey of the splendid church is built of red,
an ornate stone rood screen and Premonstratensian Order, Abdij iron­rich sandstone. Its dainty
an elaborately carved wooden van Averbode was founded in little spire over the crossing,
pulpit and choir stalls. Among 1134–35. Its entrance gate dates where the transept meets the
the church’s not able collec tion of from the 14th century, while nave, is known affection ate ly
paint ings is The Mystic Winepress, as the “mustardpot” and has a
a work by an unknown artist, carillon of 32 bells. The soar ing
dating from 1525. In it, a series of and richly decorated interior
scenes show how Christ’s blood includes a treasury museum, with
is treated just like wine by his precious reli quaries and chalices,
apostles, the Church and the as well as an exceptional collec­
Holy Roman Emperor. tion of religious sculptures. Some
West of the church along the of these masterpieces of artistry
river is the Begijnhof, with in painted wood date from the
fetching rows of 17th­century 15th century.
houses forming a U­shape Prefaced by an elaborate
around a large garden. The Baroque entrance, Diest’s vast
tourist office, to the north of the Begijnhof is one of the most
river, is attached to a small local beautiful in Belgium. Its grid of
history museum. cobbled streets is lined with
whitewashed or brick houses,
R Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk mainly from the 16th century.
Jan van Ophemstraat 23. Tel (016) Baroque ornament on the façade of Its Church of St Catherine, or
560930. Open 9am–noon daily. Averbode’s abbey church St-Catharinakerk, was built
For hotels and restaurants see p268 and pp286–8

166-167_EW_Belgium.indd 166 18/10/16 3:01 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 1st October 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm