Béguinage de Turnhout and Stoclet House

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Béguinage de Turnhout

   Turnhout lies in the Kempen, the sandy, wooded heath of northern Belgium, only a few kilometres from the Dutch border, and the beguinage here is a small village within the town, with brick houses, a church and quiet courtyards behind a wall. The city has nearly forty thousand people, and the beguinage is about half a kilometre from the centre. It is one of thirteen Flemish beguinages inscribed by UNESCO in 1998.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Turnhout write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Béguinage de Turnhout is where the day begins. Next is Stadhuis en Belforttoren.

2. 2. Stadhuis en Belforttoren

   Lier's Grote Markt is one of those squares that makes you slow down without being asked. In the middle stands an elegant eighteenth-century town hall in pale stone, and grafted onto its side is something much older: a slim Gothic belfry from the fourteenth century, its four corner turrets giving it the look of a castle chess piece. Together they belong to the group of Belgian and French belfries listed by UNESCO, symbols of the moment when medieval towns won their freedoms and built towers to prove it.

   Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Stadhuis en Belforttoren comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.

3. 3. Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort

   Leuven is a university town through and through. Its university, founded in 1425, is the oldest in the Low Countries, and its students fill the streets, cafés and squares, giving the city a youthful energy. At its heart is the Grote Markt, dominated by two buildings: the Town Hall, a Gothic masterpiece covered in hundreds of statues, and opposite it, the Church of St Peter, a great Gothic church whose tower was never finished but which is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France.

   Read the complete Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 87 km into the recorded legs you reach Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort. Next is Stoclet House.

4. 4. Stoclet House

   From the street, the Stoclet House on the Avenue de Tervueren looks like a mansion carved out of a block of white marble and trimmed with bronze, with a stepped tower crowned by four male figures and a dome of copper laurel. It was built between 1905 and 1911 for the Belgian banker and art collector Adolphe Stoclet and designed by the Viennese architect Josef Hoffmann, with the artists and craftsmen of the Wiener Werkstätte creating everything from the furniture to the cutlery. Gustav Klimt designed the mosaic frieze in the dining room, one of his most famous works. The house was listed by UNESCO in 2009 as one of the most complete and refined works of the Vienna Secession.

   Read the complete Stoclet House write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Stoclet House, about halfway. Next is back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.

5. 5. back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort sits at 151 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren.

6. 6. back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Turnhout.

7. 7. Béguinage de Turnhout

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Turnhout write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Béguinage de Turnhout closes the day.