Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Exploring Central and

Eastern Flanders

The main attractions of Central and Eastern Flanders lie in the west

of the region. Antwerp has a clutch of top-quality museums and

historic buildings, as well as a celebrated club scene. Leuven and

Mechelen are beautiful medieval towns, with outstanding architec-

tural treasures. There are castles at Beersel and Gaasbeek, gardens at

Nationale Plantentuin and a World War II concentration camp memo-

rial at Breendonk. More to the east, the beguiling little town of Diest

is close to sites such as the pilgrimage shrine at Scherpenheuvel

and the Abdij van Averbode. The abbey of Tongerlo is

famous for its copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper, while Hasselt

is the place for those who wish to sample jenever gin.

Roman history is very much in the air in Tongeren. The

highlight of the region is Bokrijk’s open-air museum, a

collection of historic rustic buildings set out in a

large park, bringing to life Flanders’s rural past.

For additional map symbols see back flap

142 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION

Villages, Towns and Cities

Aarschot 9

Antwerp pp144–55 1

Diest w

Halle u

Hasselt s

Leuven pp160–61 8

Lier 6

Maaseik f

Mechelen 7

St-Amands 2

St-Truiden a

Tienen r

Tongeren j

Turnhout 4

Zoutleeuw e

Castles

Kasteel van Beersel i

Kasteel van Gaasbeek o

Landcommanderij

Alden Biesen h

SIGHTS AT A GLANCE

Churches and Abbeys

Abdij van Averbode q

Abdij Tongerlo 5

Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van

Scherpenheuvel 0

St-Servaasbasiliek

Grimbergen y

Museums

Bokrijk Openluchtmuseum

p167 d

Memorial Breendonk 3

Parks and Gardens

Nationale Plantentuin t

Nationaal Park

Hoge Kempen g

Areas of

Natural Beauty

Forêt de Soignes p

The stately 16th-century castle and grounds at Landcommanderij Alden Biesen

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