Oh no! In Halle, some animals have escaped from a traveling zoo. They have been hiding in facades, street names and many other places crisscrossing the city. Can you find all the animals again?
With the ErfgoedApp as our guide, we start our search on Halle's Grand Place. Here, there are already several animals hidden right away: the big Elephant, the Pheasant, the Monkey and the Dog. With the help of the photos in the app, we soon find the big Elephant in the facade of the restaurant of the same name. The other animals are a little better hidden and we don't find them right away. Especially the Monkey and the Dog are very well hidden. Do you know how to find them right away?
From the Grand Place, we cannot miss it: the Basilica of Saint Martin in Halle. When we learned that Mr. Pelika could be found there, we immediately shot off. However, there are so many beautiful things to admire that we momentarily forget why we are in the basilica: we are looking for Mr. Pelika! Finally we do get to see him, hidden in a side niche of the building.
Left: the "basilica of Mr. Pelika," as seen from the Mariahof © Lowie Bergmans. Right: the interior of St. Martin's Basilica © Lowie Bergmans.
We continue our walk through Halle and come across several more escaped critters, hidden in street names or buildings. Each animal also tells a nice story about itself and its hiding place. This way we immediately learn a lot about the city's history and also get to know the animals that live here better.
The story of the Mouse family at city archives den AST © Lowie Bergmans; ErfgoedApp.
After a leisurely walk along the Leide and the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, where a few more critters are hidden, we walk back toward the basilica. In Rue des Lions and Place des Lions, we immediately learn more about the traveling zoo and its escaped animals.
If you do get lost for a while, try to spot the tower of the basilica. You can see it from almost anywhere in the city, just as Mr. Pelika would want you to!
Left: the street sign of Leeuwenstraat © Lowie Bergmans. Right: the tower of the basilica, visible above the roofs of Halle © Lowie Bergmans.
Besides critters, there are also some beautiful buildings to visit during the walk: for example, we walk past the Paters Church, which today houses some beautiful works of art. Definitely worth seeing too!
Left: part of the wall of the Paterkerk Halle © Lowie Bergmans. Right: side of the Paterkerk © Lowie Bergmans.
Via 't Vissestrotje we end up back at the Grand Place. Here we search for a second time for the Monkey and Dog, animals we didn't find during our first passage. By looking carefully in the ErfgoedApp we fortunately also find these animals again and we can end our search successfully after all!
't Vissestrotje in Halle, overlooking the tower of the basilica © Lowie Bergmans.
Would you also like to help search for the escaped animals in Halle? Then be sure to take a look at ErfgoedApp via the tour Animals escaped and go straight to the website of VisitHalle for more fun activities in the area.