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Historical sites

Historical sites

The Boerentoren in Antwerp, 1930 - © KIK-IRPA, Brussels

The Farmers' Tower

In 1919, the city of Antwerp was looking for a suitable use for a vacant lot on the Eiermarkt. A large, modern building was to be erected overlooking the Meir. Together with city architect Emile Van Averbeke, Jan Vanhoenacker and Jos Smolderen designed Belgium’s first skyscraper. The steel skeleton was built at lightning speed between

Digital reconstruction of the Old Stock Exchange, Bruges - © Westtoer, Ghent University, Timescope

The Bruges Stock Exchange

The financial heart of the medieval trading city beat on the Oude Beursplein in the center of Bruges. This square was home to the guildhouses of the Italian city-states of Venice, Florence, and Genoa. Italians worked in Bruges as merchants or bankers. Their guildhouses served as the commercial hub for their fellow countrymen. Take a stroll past them

Miners protest the closure of Zwartberg - "Memory of Genk" Collection, Emile Van Doren Museum - Photo by J. Harsch

The mine in Zwartberg is closing

In the years following World War II, the Limburg mines experienced an unprecedented boom. Coal was the driving force behind Belgium’s booming economy, so the government stepped in to support the mining sector. Miners were portrayed in carefully crafted campaigns as saviors of the nation. As a tribute, their likeness appeared on the coins of

Saint Dymphna, Goswyn van der Weyden, Dymphna, 1505 - The Phoebus Foundation - Wikimedia Commons

Saint Dimpna keeps your mind healthy

In Geel, Saint Dimpna is everywhere. In the church, in the Gasthuismuseum, in the names of hospitals and schools, and among the residents who open their homes to provide home care for people with mental health challenges. Dimpna was an Irish princess from the seventh century. She was the daughter of a

Be-MINE in Beringen. The former mining buildings have been given a completely new purpose - Visit Limburg

MySite Beringen

At the Be-MINE mining site in Beringen, you’re more likely to encounter divers, climbers, and mountain bikers than miners these days. Yet the place still exudes the atmosphere of its industrial mining past. Like the other mines in Limburg, the Beringen mine has left a lasting mark on the region. Visit be-

The Zimmertoren in Lier with its astronomical clock - Wikimedia Commons, photo by Benoit Brummer

Tower Clocks of Lier

The city of Lier in the province of Antwerp boasts not one, but two remarkable timepieces. The Church of St. Gummarus is home to one of the oldest wrought-iron tower clocks in Europe. It was purchased in Maastricht in 1702 and, according to recent research, dates back to 1395. But Lier is also known for

Geert Bourgeois, Flemish Minister of Integration, at the El Fath Mosque, 2012 - © Belga

The El Fath Mosque in Ghent

Anyone who leaves their native region and settles elsewhere always brings their cultural and religious customs with them. As early as the interwar period, people from North Africa and Turkey came to Belgium to work in the mines, but their numbers increased dramatically, especially starting in the 1960s. With them