Stadhuis met Toren and Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
228 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 49
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.
From Sint-Truiden it runs 228 km to Sint-Truiden; allow about 3 h 49 of riding. It goes by way of Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort, Maison & Atelier Horta, Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison and back through Maison & Atelier Horta. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Stadhuis met Toren
Sint-Truiden's Grote Markt is one of the largest market squares in Belgium, and at its centre stands the town hall with its belfry, a tower that has watched over the town since the Middle Ages and been rebuilt and remodelled several times. The belfry, with its carillon, is part of the UNESCO listing of the Belfries of Belgium and France, inscribed in 1999 to honour these civic towers that symbolised the freedom and wealth of the medieval towns. Climb it if you can, and you will see the whole of the Haspengouw region spread out around you, a gently rolling landscape of orchards and fields.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis met Toren is where the day begins. Next is Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maison & Atelier Horta.
3. Maison & Atelier Horta
From the street, the house at Rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles is pleasant but unassuming, a narrow town house of stone and iron among many others. Inside, it becomes something else entirely: a flowing space of curving wrought iron, stained glass, mosaic floors and woodwork that seems to grow like plant tendrils, all bathed in light from a glass roof over the stairwell. Victor Horta, one of the founders of Art Nouveau, built it as his home and studio between 1898 and 1901, and it is now a museum dedicated to his work. In 2000, it was listed by UNESCO together with three other Horta town houses in Brussels, including the Hôtel Tassel, often cited as the first true Art Nouveau building.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Maison & Atelier Horta. Next is Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison.
4. Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison
Aalst's Schepenhuis, the old aldermen's house on the Grote Markt, is reckoned to be the oldest surviving town hall in the Low Countries, its oldest parts going back to the thirteenth century, and its belfry, added later, carries the bells that once regulated the town's life. Together they are part of the UNESCO listing of the Belfries of Belgium and France. In front of them stands a statue of Dirk Martens, who set up one of the first printing presses in the Southern Netherlands here in the 1470s and later printed works by Erasmus and Thomas More.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis met Toren closes the day.
Leg by leg
Stadhuis met Toren to Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
Stadhuis met Toren → Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort to Maison & Atelier Horta
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort → Maison & Atelier Horta is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maison & Atelier Horta to Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison
Maison & Atelier Horta → Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison to back through Maison & Atelier Horta
Belfort en Schepenhuis / Beffroi et maison → back through Maison & Atelier Horta is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Maison & Atelier Horta to back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
back through Maison & Atelier Horta → back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort to Stadhuis met Toren
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort → Stadhuis met Toren is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.