CENTRAL AND EASTERN FLANDERS 157

Mechelen’s magnificent Stadhuis

decked in flowers and flags

Abdij Tongerlo 5

Abdijstraat 40; 40 km (25 miles) SE of
Antwerp. Road Map D1. Tel (014)

539900. @ # Mar–Oct; see web-
        site for details. & 8 Apr–Sep:
        2:30pm Sun. http://www.tongerlo.org

Founded in about 1130, Abdij
Tongerlo is Belgium’s largest
Premonstratensian abbey. It is
home to an almost full-size oil-
on-canvas copy of Leonardo
da Vinci’s Last Supper, which
was painted by an unknown
artist over 1506–7. This con-
tains many details now lost
in his 1498 ori ginal in Milan.
The copy came to Tongerlo in
1545, and is the centrepiece
of the Da Vinci Museum.

a 16th-century mansion, and

owns a collection that includes

the city’s mascot, a wooden

doll called Op Signoorke. The

nearby St-Janskerk has a rich

Baroque interior and a ver-

sion of The Adoration of the

Magi (1619) by Rubens.

Mechelen owes its riches to

the cloth trade and tapestry

weaving. This heritage can

be seen at the royal tapestry

work shops of Koninklijke

Manufactuur de Wit. The city

also has Speelgoedmuseum,

an excellent toy museum. In

the north of Mechelen are

18th-century barracks from

where, in 1942–4, 25,000 Jews

were deported to Auschwitz,

Poland. This chilling story is

covered in the Joods Museum

van Deportatie en Verzet.

Just southeast of Mechelen

is a branch of Antwerp Zoo,

Planckendael Animal Park,

with several trails, exotic ani-

mals and treetop walkways.

R St-Romboutskathedraal

St-Romboutshof. Tel (015) 297655.

# 1:30–5:30pm daily (Tower:

10am–6pm Tue–Sun). 8 for tower.

E Hof van Busleyden

Frederik de Merodestraat 65–7.

Tel (015) 294030. # Tue–Sun.

E Koninklijke Manufactuur

de Wit

Refugie van de Abdij van Tongerlo,

Schoutetstraat 7. Tel (015) 202905.

# 9am–midnight and 1:30–5pm

Mon–Fri. & 8 http://www.dewit.be

E Joods Museum van

Deportatie en Verzet

Goswin de Stassartstraat 153.

Tel (015) 290660. # Sun–Fri.

¢ Jewish holidays; Aug: 2nd

and 3rd week. http://www.cicb.be

O Planckendael Animal Park

Leuvensteenweg 582. Tel (015)

414921. 
        

        daily. & 0 - =

        
        

        http://www.planckendael.be

        
        

famous for its Zimmertoren, a

14th-century watchtower that

now houses the clocks and

workshop of clockmaker

Lodewijk Zimmer (1888–1970).

E Stedelijk Musuem Wuyts-

Van Campen en Baron Caroly

Florent van Cauwenberghstraat 14.

Tel (03) 8000396. # Tue–Sun. &

R St-Gummaruskerk

Kardinaal Mercierplein.

# Easter–Oct. & http://www.

sintgummaruskerktelier.be.

P Zimmertoren

Zimmerplein 18. Tel (03) 8000395.

# Tue–Sun. & http://www.

zimmertoren.com

Lier 6

17 km (11 miles) SE of Antwerp.
Road Map C1. * 33,000. £ @
n Grote Markt 57; (03) 8000555.
( Sat. http://www.toerismelier.be

Built where the rivers Grote
Nete and Kleine Nete meet,
Lier was once a wealthy medi-
eval town. Its Grote Markt is a
spacious cobbled square lined
with old guildhouses, an ele-
gant Stadhuis and a fairytale
belfry. Nearby is the Stedelijk
Museum Wuyts-Van Campen
en Baron Caroly, with a fine
collection of paintings by
Flemish masters and early
20th-century Belgians. In 1496,
the marriage of Philip the Fair
and Joanna of Castile took
place in St-Gummaruskerk, a
Brabant Gothic church, whose
stained-glass windows were
given by Emperor Maximilian I
in 1516. Lier is above all

Mechelen 7

25 km (15 miles) S of Antwerp.

Road Map C2. * 75,000. £ @

n Hallestraat 2-6; (070) 222800.

_ Hanswijk Processie (Sun before

Ascension Day). http://www.

uitinmechelen.be

The historic city of Mechelen,

on the River Dijle, has excep-

tional charm. Its large Grote

Markt has a curious Stadhuis

that com bines a 14th-century

Lakenhalle and a Flamboyant

Gothic galleried wing, begun

in 1530 but completed only in

1911. The city’s magnificent
      St-Romboutskathedraal is the
      seat of the Catholic archbishop
      of Belgium. The cathedral took
      some 300 years to build and
      its colossal 97-m (318-ft) high
      tower is one of the tallest in
      Belgium. Its interior is part
      Gothic, part Baroque, and has
      many prized paintings, includ-
      ing a Crucifixion (1627) by
      van Dyck. Mechelen’s Hof van
      Busleyden museum occupies

Jubilee Clock with its 13 faces, on
the façade of Lier’s Zimmertoren

The large Grote Markt at Mechelen

busy with stalls and shoppers

Antwerp’s Gothic Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal dominating the city’s skyline