Page 205 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

CENTR AL W ALL ONIA  203

Atmospheric ruins of the Cistercian Abbaye de Villers, the backdrop for summer concerts
and lime, and a refuge in times 7 Nivelles this turbulent period. Completed
of war. Between 1793 and 1797, 21 km (13 miles) SW of Louvain-la- in 1046, it was built in a
they were a haven for those Neuve. Road Map C3. * 26,700. Byzantine-influenced style
enduring the sup pression £ @ n Rue de Saintes 48; (067) called Ottonian (after the
of religion by the French 840864. _ Carnival (weekend after three 10th-century Holy Roman
Revolutionary armies. Later, Mardi Gras). ∑ tourisme-nivelles.be Emperors called Otto). The
the caves were used as a dance dominant feature, the towering
hall and, after 1886, for the The capital of the Roman Païs west façade, the Westbau,
cultivation of mushrooms. (Roman Land), a region so effectively forms a second
named for the Latin-based transept. It has a semicircular
dialect formerly spoken here, apse and rises five storeys high,
6 Abbaye de Villers Nivelles is a pretty town with flanked by towers and topped
a long history dating back to by an octagonal bell tower
Rue de l’Abbaye 55, Villers-la-Ville;
15 km (9 miles) S of Louvain-la-Neuve. an abbey founded in around containing a carillon of 49 bells.
Road Map C3. Tel (071) 880980. £ AD 650 by the ancestors of The sheer scale, simplicity and
Open Apr–Oct: 10am–5pm Wed– Charlemagne. The first abbess dignity of the interior are
Mon. & 9 ∑ villers.be was a famously gentle-natured impressive, underlined by the
daughter of the family, to whom contrasting exuberance of the
The great Cistercian Abbaye the abbey church, the Collégiale 18th-century Baroque oak-and-
de Villers was founded in 1146 Ste-Gertrude, is dedicated. The marble pulpit. Also on display is
and its large church was built abbesses thereafter were all of the 15th-century wooden cart,
over the following half-century. noble birth, and the abbey which, drawn by horses, carries
However, the abbey suffered became a rich and powerful the reliquary of Ste Gertrude in
the familiar fate of so many institution right up to the time a costumed pro cession through
ecclesiastical buildings in that it was closed by the French the town and surrounding
Belgium – it was wrecked by Revolutionary Army in 1798. The countryside each autumn.
Protestant rebels in the abbey’s massive church survived Inside the Westbau are two
16th century and finally gallery chapels and a large Salle
destroyed by the French Impériale (Imperial Hall). The
Revolutionary Army in 1794. cloisters outside once connected
The result is the largest set of the church to the abbey.
church ruins in Belgium – a The town itself suffered
haunting ensemble surrounded widespread damage in 1940,
by a park. Much of the essential when much of the historic
architecture of the monastery is centre was set alight, but all has
visible, including the cloisters, been meticulously restored.
refectory, dormitory and
brewery. There is a re-created R Collégiale Ste-Gertrude
medieval medicinal garden. Grand Place. Tel (067) 840864.
The site makes a spectacular Open 9am–5pm Mon–Sat, 2–5pm Sun.
venue for open-air concerts & for guided tours only. 8 2pm daily,
and theatre produc tions The awe-inspiring west façade of 3:30pm Sat, Sun & public holidays;
during the summer. Collégiale Ste-Gertrude in Nivelles compulsory for Westbau and crypt.
The Collegiate Church of Our Lady by the river Meuse

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