Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION 141

Late Gothic façade of the Stadhuis in Leuven’s Grote Markt

Stretching from River

Scheldt in the west
to the Province of

Limburg in the east,
Central and Eastern

Flanders is an area of age-old
natural and historical beauty,

with the straight roads built by
the Romans around Tongeren, in

eastern Limburg, still in use today.
In AD 843, the lands to the south

and east of the River Scheldt were an
area called Lotharingia. These fol-

lowed a trajectory within the Holy
Roman Empire, separate from that of

the rest of Flanders. Over the next
few centuries, the land was further

divided between the duchies of
Brabant and Limburg, with the

prince-bishopric of Liège gaining
control of southern Limburg. During

this period, the remote forests and
woodlands of Eastern Flanders

attracted religious communities, most

notably the Premonstratensians

at Tongerlo and Averbode.

In the 15th century, the

dukes of Burgundy slowly

pulled the region under

their control – by marriage,

diplomacy or ruthless force.

Towns such as Mechelen

and Leuven began to flour-

ish, and by the 17th century, the

port-city of Antwerp had entered

a Golden Age, echoed in the flam-

boyant paintings of Rubens.

Today, visitors come to admire the

many vestiges of this history that are

etched into the countryside and the

fabric of the towns. They also come

to immerse themselves in the natural

charm of the landscape, to walk and

cycle, and to enjoy the great range

of streekproducten, the food speciali-

ties of the region, particularly from

the farmlands and orchards of the

Hageland and the Haspengouw.

CENTRAL AND

EASTERN FLANDERS

M

agnificent castles and Gothic churches speak eloquently of

this region’s rich historic heritage. Central Flanders is the

busy axis between Brussels and Antwerp, a hothouse of con-

temporary culture and fashion. Further east, the beauty and tranquillity

of the countryside become the keynotes, in the heaths and woodlands of

the Kempen and the sweetly rolling farmlands of the south.

A flat and tranquil landscape, characteristic of the agricultural regions of Central and Eastern Flanders