Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com and Flemish Béguinages

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com

   In 1555 a French bookbinder called Christophe Plantin set up a printing press in Antwerp, then one of the richest cities in Europe, and his business became the largest printing house of its time, printing Bibles, atlases, scientific works and books in many languages. His son in law, Jan Moretus, and the Moretus family carried on the business for three centuries, and their home and workshops on the Vrijdagmarkt, preserved almost intact, are now a museum. It holds the two oldest surviving printing presses in the world, a huge collection of type, woodblocks and copper plates, a library and portraits painted by Rubens, a friend of the family. In 2005 it became the first museum listed as a World Heritage Site.

   Read the complete Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com is where the day begins. Next is Béguinage de Lier.

2. 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 19 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 34 km into the recorded legs you reach Flemish Béguinages. Next is back through Béguinage de Lier.

4. 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 Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com.

5. 5. Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Com. That is the ride.