Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi and Béguinage de Sint-Amandsberg / Gent

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi

   Charleroi has a reputation, unfairly earned or not, as one of the grittiest cities in Belgium, and its belfry is a fine reason to look again. Rising from the town hall on the Place Charles II, the belfry was built in the 1930s in an elegant Art Deco style, replacing an older tower, and it is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO. Its slender shape, topped with a dome and carillon, is a symbol of the city's pride and resilience, and inside, the town hall has a sumptuous Art Deco interior.

   Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi is where the day begins. Next is Maison & Atelier Horta.

2. 2. Maison & Atelier Horta

   From the street, the house at Rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles is pleasant but unassuming, a narrow town house of stone and iron among many others. Inside, it becomes something else entirely: a flowing space of curving wrought iron, stained glass, mosaic floors and woodwork that seems to grow like plant tendrils, all bathed in light from a glass roof over the stairwell. Victor Horta, one of the founders of Art Nouveau, built it as his home and studio between 1898 and 1901, and it is now a museum dedicated to his work. In 2000, it was listed by UNESCO together with three other Horta town houses in Brussels, including the Hôtel Tassel, often cited as the first true Art Nouveau building.

   Read the complete Maison & Atelier Horta write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Maison & Atelier Horta comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Sint-Amandsberg / Gent.

3. 3. Béguinage de Sint-Amandsberg / Gent

   The Great Béguinage of Sint-Amandsberg looks like a small walled town of its own, tucked into a residential suburb just east of the centre of Ghent. When the city expanded in the 1870s and the old béguinage of St Elisabeth was in the way, the beguines, lay religious women who lived in community without taking permanent vows, moved here to a new complex of neo-Gothic houses, convents and a church, all laid out around streets, squares and gardens behind a wall and gate. The move was funded by the Duke of Arenberg, and the whole place was finished in just a few years. It is one of the thirteen Flemish Béguinages on the UNESCO list since 1998, and although the beguines are gone, the houses are still lived in, and the atmosphere is calm and quiet.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Sint-Amandsberg / Gent write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 116 km into the recorded legs you reach Béguinage de Sint-Amandsberg / Gent. Next is back through Maison & Atelier Horta.

4. 4. back through Maison & Atelier Horta

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Maison & Atelier Horta write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Maison & Atelier Horta, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi.

5. 5. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi. That is the ride.