Béguinage de Hoogstraten and Sint-Leonarduskerk

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Béguinage de Hoogstraten

   A béguinage is one of the most peaceful places in the Low Countries: a walled enclosure of small houses around a green courtyard and a church, built in the Middle Ages for béguines, women who lived a religious life of prayer and work without taking permanent vows. They could own property, leave if they wished and support themselves by weaving, teaching or nursing, which made the béguinages a unique form of female independence in medieval Europe. The béguinage at Hoogstraten, in the north of Antwerp province near the Dutch border, is one of thirteen Flemish béguinages on the World Heritage list, and it is a quiet, charming place, with whitewashed houses, a baroque church and a garden where time seems to slow.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Béguinage de Hoogstraten is where the day begins. Next is Flemish Béguinages.

2. 2. Flemish Béguinages

   In the thirteenth century, a remarkable movement spread across the Low Countries. Women, often unmarried or widowed, chose to live together in communities devoted to prayer and work, without taking the permanent vows of nuns, keeping their property and the freedom to leave. They were called béguines, and their walled settlements, the béguinages, became towns within towns. The Groot Begijnhof of Mechelen, the great béguinage, is one of thirteen in Flanders listed by UNESCO, and at its height it housed well over a thousand women, making it one of the largest communities of its kind.

   Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Flemish Béguinages comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sint-Leonarduskerk.

3. 3. Sint-Leonarduskerk

   The church of Saint Leonard rises over the little town of Zoutleeuw, in the fruit-growing country east of Leuven, and it is far grander than the size of the place suggests. In the Middle Ages the town, known in French as Léau, was a prosperous trading centre on a route between Brabant and Liège, and its burghers put their money into stone. Work on the church began in the thirteenth century and went on for generations, giving a late Gothic body with a tall tower, rich sculpture and a lofty, light interior with white walls and tall windows.

   Read the complete Sint-Leonarduskerk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 138 km into the recorded legs you reach Sint-Leonarduskerk. Next is back through Flemish Béguinages.

4. 4. back through Flemish Béguinages

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Flemish Béguinages, late in the day. Next is Béguinage de Hoogstraten.

5. 5. Béguinage de Hoogstraten

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Béguinage de Hoogstraten. That is the ride.