Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal and Flemish Béguinages

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal

   Antwerp's cathedral tower is visible from almost anywhere in the city, and for good reason. The spire of the Cathedral of Our Lady rises about 123 metres above the old town, a slender, lacy Gothic needle that Napoleon is said to have compared with Mechelen lace. Work began in the middle of the fourteenth century and dragged on until the early sixteenth, by which time the city was the richest port in Northern Europe. The builders planned two towers but only finished one, and the unfinished stump of the second gives the facade its lopsided look.

   Read the complete Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal 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 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Flemish Béguinages.

3. 3. 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

   about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Flemish Béguinages. Next is back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren.

4. 4. 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, late in the day. Next is Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal.

5. 5. Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal. That is the ride.