Why this ride
A 61 km round trip from Mechelen - roughly 1 h 30 in the saddle. On the way it passes Béguinage de Lier, Maison Guiete and back through Béguinage de Lier. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Flemish Béguinages and Maison Guiete
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 61 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 30
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Béguinage de Lier.
2. Béguinage de Lier
Through a gateway off a busy street in Lier, you step into another world. The béguinage is a small walled neighbourhood of narrow cobbled lanes, whitewashed brick houses and a baroque church, where for centuries communities of beguines lived. These were religious women who chose a life of prayer, work and service without taking the permanent vows of nuns, living independently in their own houses but sharing a communal life. The béguinages of Flanders, about a dozen of them, were listed by UNESCO in 1998, and the one in Lier, with its quiet lanes and doorways topped with statues of saints, is one of the most charming.
Read the complete Béguinage de Lier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Lier comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maison Guiete.
3. Maison Guiete
In a leafy residential street in the southern suburbs of Antwerp, there is a white house that looks as if it has walked in from a different century. The Maison Guiette, as it is usually spelled, was designed by Le Corbusier in 1926 for the painter René Guiette, and it was his first building in Belgium. Since 2016 it has been one of the sites in the UNESCO listing of Le Corbusier's architectural work, alongside the Villa Savoye, the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille and buildings on several continents.
Read the complete Maison Guiete write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach Maison Guiete. Next is back through Béguinage de Lier.
4. back through Béguinage de Lier
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Lier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Béguinage de Lier, late in the day. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
5. 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 at Flemish Béguinages. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Flemish Béguinages to Béguinage de Lier
Flemish Béguinages → Béguinage de Lier is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Lier to Maison Guiete
Béguinage de Lier → Maison Guiete is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maison Guiete to back through Béguinage de Lier
Maison Guiete → back through Béguinage de Lier is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Lier to Flemish Béguinages
back through Béguinage de Lier → Flemish Béguinages is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.