For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp266–7 and pp292–4
166 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION
St-Truiden’s 18th-century Stadhuis
with the Belfort rising behind itSt-Truiden a
20 km (12 miles) E of Tienen.
Road Map D2. * 38,000. £ @
n Grote Markt 44; (011) 701818.
( http://www.toerisme-sint-truiden.be
The attractive market town of
St-Truiden lies in the western
sector of the Haspengouw,
a region noted for its spring
blossom and for orchards
of apples, pears and cherries.
The town is named after its
Benedictine abbey, founded
around AD 660 by St Trudo,
a nobleman-turned-evangelist.
The abbey was closed during
the French Revolutionary
occupation in the 1790s. Its
11th-century Abdijtoren is one
of three towers that line up on
the northern side of the large
Grote Markt. The second is
the Belfort, built in 1606 and
attached incongruously to the
red 18th-century Stadhuis. In
front of the Belfort is a perron,
a place marked by a column,
where laws were promulgated
and justice meted out. The
perron was a symbol of liberty
under the rule of the prince-
bishops of Liège (13th–15th
centuries). The third tower
is the 19th-century spire of
the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk.
In the northeast of the town,
a set of pretty 16th- to 18th-
century houses cluster around
a square in the begijnhof.
The charming barrel-vaulted
church, the Begijnhofkerk,
has a remarkable set of
murals dating from the
13th to the 17th centuries.
The Festraetsstudio contains
a famous astronomical clock,
6-m (20-ft) tall, created by
master clockmaker Kamiel
Festraets between 1937 and
Hasselt s
20 km (12 miles) NE of St-Truiden.
Road Map E2. * 70,000. £
@ n Lombaardstraat 3; (011)Capital of the Province of
Limburg, Hasselt is a busy
modern town, famous as a
historic centre of jenever (gin)
production. The history of
jenever is stylishly explained
in a former distillery at the
Nationaal Jenevermuseum.
The fashion museum, the
Modemuseum Hasselt,
mounts thematic exhibitions
drawing on its extensive col-
lection of historical costumes.
Hasselt also has the Japanse
Tuin, a remarkable garden
created with its Japanese twin
town, Itami. With rocks, wind-
ing paths, waterfalls, blossom
trees and ceremonial buildings
by a large carp pond, the
garden has a refreshing air
of authenticity. On the other
side of the ring road is Plopsa
Indoor Hasselt, an all-weather
theme park for children.E Nationaal Jenevermuseum
Wittenonnenstraat 19. Tel (011)
Jul–Aug daily: Sep–Jun:
Tue–Sun. ¢ 3 weeks in Jan. & -
= http://www.jenevermuseum.be
Y Japanse Tuin
Gouverneur Verwilghensingel.
Apr–Oct: 10am–5pm Tue–Fri,
2–6pm Sat, Sun and public
holidays. &
Plopsa Indoor Hasselt
Gouverneur Verwilghensingel 70.
Tel (011) 293040. # school
holidays: daily; school term: 10am–
6pm Wed, Sat and Sun. - = 7
http://www.plopsa.be
JENEVER
The original gin, jenever is a strong alcoholic drink distilled
from grain, usually malted barley. Invented in the 16th
century, jenever was originally a medicine named after
its key ingredient, juniper berries.
Today, it is produced in Belgium and
the Netherlands in countless different
styles, and with flavourings such
as orange, lemon, apple, hazelnut,
vanilla and chocolate. Oude (old)
and jonge (young) describe variant
distilling techniques (rather than
ageing) – jonge styles, introduced
in around 1900, have a lighter, less
malty flavour. Jenever, in all its vari-
ous forms, is always consumed neat.Gin and distilling apparatus at the Nationaal Jenervermuseum, Hasselt
Ceramic bottles of
flavoured jenever- It has 20,000 parts and
is animated by moving figures
when the clock strikes.
P Abdijtoren
Abdijstraat. # mid-Mar–Oct:
10am–8pm daily; Nov–mid-Mar:
10am–4pm daily. &
P Begijnhofkerk
Begijnhof. # Apr–Sep: 10am–
12:30pm, 1:30–5pm Mon–Fri,
2–5pm Sun.
E Festraetsstudio
Begijnhof. # mid-Mar–Oct:
9:45am–3:45pm Mon–Fri.