Why this ride
130 km from Antwerpen to Antwerpen, about 3 h 14 of riding. On the way it passes Stadhuis en Belforttoren, Flemish Béguinages, Béguinage de Lier and Grand Béguinage de Mechelen.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal and Grand Béguinage de Mechelen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 130 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 14
- 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. 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. 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 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
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 34 km into the recorded legs you reach Flemish Béguinages. Next is Béguinage de Lier.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Grand Béguinage de Mechelen.
5. Grand Béguinage de Mechelen
Mechelen's Grand Beguinage is a small town inside a town, and the first thing that hits you on walking through its gate is the silence. Behind the walls are cobbled lanes lined with small gabled houses, a quiet church, a green square and a canal arm of the Dijle river. For centuries this was the home of the beguines, women who lived a religious life without taking formal vows, supporting themselves by weaving, lace-making, nursing and teaching. The movement began in the Low Countries in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and at its height there were hundreds of beguinages. Mechelen's was one of the largest, and most of what stands today dates from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was listed by UNESCO in 1998 as part of the group of Flemish beguinages.
Read the complete Grand Béguinage de Mechelen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grand Béguinage de Mechelen sits at 73 km, about halfway. Next is back through Béguinage de Lier.
6. 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 comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Flemish Béguinages.
7. 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
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Flemish Béguinages. Next is back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren.
8. 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.
9. 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
The route ends here after 130 km.
Leg by leg
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal to Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal → Stadhuis en Belforttoren is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis en Belforttoren to Flemish Béguinages
Stadhuis en Belforttoren → Flemish Béguinages is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Flemish Béguinages to Béguinage de Lier
Flemish Béguinages → Béguinage de Lier is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Lier to Grand Béguinage de Mechelen
Béguinage de Lier → Grand Béguinage de Mechelen is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grand Béguinage de Mechelen to back through Béguinage de Lier
Grand Béguinage de Mechelen → back through Béguinage de Lier is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Lier to back through Flemish Béguinages
back through Béguinage de Lier → back through Flemish Béguinages is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Flemish Béguinages to back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren
back through Flemish Béguinages → back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren → Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.