Mechelen, Belgium

 

Mechelen is a central city and municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The city is located in the south of that province, centrally between the cities of Antwerp and Brussels, on the river Dijle. Mechelen has 86,911 inhabitants (2021). It is the sixth largest city in Flanders by number of inhabitants and the second largest city in the province, after Antwerp. It is also the second largest city on the Dyle, after Leuven.

Mechelen is also the capital of the district of Mechelen and the electoral and judicial cantons of Mechelen, as well as the Roman Catholic headquarters of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels and of the Ecclesiastical Province of Belgium.

 

Toponymy

At the division of Lotharius I's empire between Charles the Bald, king of the Franks, and Louis the German on August 8, 870, Mechelen is mentioned separately as Maalinas in the part that belongs to Charlemagne.

After that, Maalinas (Mechelen) is mentioned in a gift letter from Karel the Simple. In this gift letter from 915, he transfers the abbeys of Hastière and Maslinas to Stephanus, the bishop of Tongeren (and thus Liège). A diploma from 980/981 confirms Maslines, as well as Huy, Fosses, Lobbes and Tongeren, as the possession of the bishop of Liège and furthermore Maclines is mentioned in a charter from 1008, in which Henry II grants wild course (= hunting rights) in the Wavrewoud.

Later Maclines changed to Machele (12th century), Mechgelme (14th century) and finally Mechelen (15th century). The name of the city is said to be derived from the word mahal, which refers to a meeting or court place.

 

Sights

Religious buildings
Churches
St. Rumbold's Cathedral, whose tower with two complete carillons is UNESCO World Heritage Site ID 943-016.
The baroque Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk with its dome. The architect is the local Lucas Faydherbe.
The Church of Saint John (Saint John the Evangelist), which houses The Adoration of the Magi by Rubens.
The Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-over-de-Dijle church, which houses The miraculous catch of fish by Rubens.
The former Jesuit church of St. Peter and Paul, now a parish church.
The Baroque Beguinage Church, dedicated to Saint Alexius and Saint Catherine, in the Beguinage.
The baroque church of Our Lady of Leliëndaal in the Bruul, by Lucas Faydherbe.
The gothic Sint-Katelijnekerk in the Sint-Katelijnestraat.
The late Neo-Gothic Saint Joseph Coloma Church in the Hanswijkenhoek or Tervuursesteenweg district

Refuge houses
Refuge of Sint-Truiden
Villers' refuge
Tongerlo refuge
Refuge of Grimbergen
Refuge of Rozendaal

Civil constructions
Grote Markt, with many houses from the 16th to 20th century and also the Town Hall of Mechelen with a Flamboyant Gothic facade and older Cloth Hall with belfry (this building is UNESCO World Heritage ID 943-015)
The Hof van Savoye is now the Court of Justice of Mechelen, but it used to be the residence of Margaret of Austria
The Court of Cambrai, former residence of Margaret of York, now municipal theatre
The Hof van Hoogstraten
The Court of Palermo
The Court of Nassau
The Court of Coloma
The Court of Sheafs
The Court of Busleyden
The Court of Cortenbach
The Hof van der Gracht de Rommerswael
The Small and the Great Beguinage (the latter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site ID 855-003)
The Hoogbrug: oldest stone bridge in Flanders
The Schepenhuis, the first town hall of Mechelen, built at the end of the 14th century, which is now the tourist information office.
Vismarkt: 16th-century square in the heart of the city next to the Binnendijle
In den Vijgenboom, the oldest wooden facade in the city
The Salmon at the Salt Wharf
Hemelrijck, sixteenth-century building
House De Clippel with historic workshop Carillons and Tower Clocks Michiels
The Flying Peer
The old facades of Sint-Jozef, Den Duivel and 't Paradise on the Haverwerf
Lamot: the former brewery has now been converted into a conference center
Melaan: a vliet in the city center that was reopened in 2006
Swimming dock: a former dock and swimming pool on the Binnendijle that is now a hotel
Vleeshalle: The Mechelse Vleeshal (also Vleeshalle) is a protected monument from 1881 where catering is located.

Museums
Museum Brusselpoort, the only remaining city gate and archaeological museum
Hof van Busleyden, early Renaissance residence, now Museum Hof ​​van Busleyden
Toy museum with a unique collection of old and contemporary toys
Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, a museum about the deportation of Jewish prisoners of war from the Dossin Barracks in World War II
Mechelen Watch and Clock Museum
Brewery Het Anker, a beer brewery with a museum section
Royal Manufactory of Tapestries De Wit, an internationally renowned institution that restores old tapestries
Center for Ancient Art 't Vliegend Peert with the museum Het Zotte Kunstkabinet, a research institute for the study of painting in the Southern Netherlands between 1500 and 1650, located in the building 't Vliegend Peert, with an emphasis on satirical-moral themes. Not only well-known masters such as Jeroen Bosch and Pieter Bruegel, but also lesser-known painters such as Jan and Frans Verbeeck, Jan Mandyn and Jan Massijs belong to the core of the research area.

 

New city projects
The Oudt School in Hombeek
Clarenhof
salt yard
Gommarushof
Kazerne Dossin: Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
Station environment
Renewal/extension Bruul from the Grote Markt to the Central Station
Old Carrefour site: here will be the new city district 'Dijlepoort' with various residential towers, space for wholesalers and a green public inner area within walking distance of the center
Zuidpoort: new construction and renovation of homes in the station area
Keerdok: in time the current retail warehouses will move to another loop on the outskirts (Malinas) and this area will be developed into a residential area on the water

Nature
The Botanic Garden, with a marble statue of the local herbalist Dodoens
Planckendael: the zoo of Mechelen, in Muizen
The Vrijbroek Park: a provincial park, a green lung of 50 ha on the edge of the city
Mechels Broek: 100 ha of wet grasslands with marked walks of 2 to 7 km, which is located in Muizen en Bonheiden, along the right bank of the Dijle
Baerebeek Valley: 90 ha of marshy meadows with a green walk of 4.6 km, which is located in Muizen
Battenbroek nature reserve in Walem between Nete and Dijle
Nature reserve Oude Dijlearm in Battel between Dyle and Leuvense Vaart
Den Battelaer nature reserve in Battel between Leuvense Vaart and Zenne
Robbroek nature reserve between Battel and Stuivenberg; between Zenne and E19
Eglegem pond in Hombeek and Zemst along the left bank of the Zenne
The Tivolpark along the Antwerpsesteenweg, home of the annual Ottertrotter festival, with the Tivolikasteel and the artwork "Clocks in the wind" in memory of Louis Neefs

 

History

Until 1795, Mechelen was the center of the small independent seigniory of Mechelen. In that respect, the area had the same status as, for example, Holland, Zeeland, Flanders and Brabant. For a short period in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Low Countries were ruled from Mechelen, and the city fulfilled the function of administrative capital of the Netherlands (established by Margaret of Austria). This period has contributed to the extensive art collection and several remarkable buildings. The city has the second highest number of protected buildings in Flanders, including four UNESCO listings.

 

Geography

In addition to the city, Mechelen has five smaller sub-municipalities, namely Heffen, Hombeek, Leest, Muizen and Walem.

Walem is located north of the city, on the Nete. Heffen, Leest and Hombeek are to the west, on the other side of the Senne. Muizen is located southeast, a little further upstream along the Dyle. The city also has several hamlets and districts. The hamlet northwest of the city where the Zenne and the Leuven-Mechelen canal merge with the Dyle is called the Zennegat. The city itself is administratively divided into the districts Centrum, Mechelen-North, Mechelen-South, Battel (west of the Dyle), Arsenaal and Nekkerspoel in the east.

 

Culture

Nickname

The people of Mechelen are also called the Maneblussers. According to legend, they owe this name to an event from the 17th century. On one night there was a full moon with low clouds and a late bar-goer with a drink too much thought that St. Rumbold's Tower was on fire. The whole city was drummed up and people stood in long rows passing buckets of water to extinguish their tower. Since then, the people of Mechelen have been nicknamed the moon extinguishers because they had tried to extinguish the moon.

Language
In Mechelen a dialect is spoken called Mechels. It is a Brabant dialect. More specifically, Mechels belongs to Klein-Brabants, a group of dialects spoken along the border between the provinces of Antwerp and Flemish Brabant.

patron saint
Saint Rumbold is the patron saint of Mechelen.

Relaxation
Technopolis: activity center for science and technology
Toy Museum
Nekkerhal: a complex for trade fairs, festivals, flea markets and concerts. In 2014, the musical '14-'18 by Studio 100 took place
Utopolis Mechelen: cinema complex
Stadsfeestzaal, former banquet hall converted into a cinema
Cultural Center Mechelen: organizes concerts, theater performances and exhibitions
Filmhuis Mechelen: organizes contemporary and classic film screenings every Tuesday in the auditorium of the Cultuurcentrum Mechelen
Puppet Theater DE MAAN: puppet theater company for children with a long tradition, which used to be known as Mechels Stadspoppentheater. The doll maker is also known Malinois Paul Contryn
Art center nOna, located in the buildings of the former Ciné Studio
't Arsenaal, theater (company) that used to be known as the Mechels Miniature Teater
Abattoir Fermé, theater company
Contour: organizes biennials for moving images
Jazz attic: regularly organizes jazz performances
Moonshack: regularly hosts soul, funk, blues, ska, reggae, jazz & rock performances and the now legendary Super Soul Stew parties
Kamikazeclub: regularly organizes rock, pop and metal performances, located on the Douaneplein behind party hall Perron M.
TheAtrium: concert hall, formerly known as Zaal Volksbelang. In the early 1980s, the pop groups U2, Dead Kennedys, Madness and Depeche Mode, among others, played concerts there
Mechelen is known for its carillon and its carillon school, which attracts many foreign students: that was the life's work of carillonneur Jef Denyn
Tourism: city walks, guided tours and cruises on the Binnendijle

Events
Every 25 years
The Cavalcade, followed by the Ommegang. As a tradition of the giant procession, the latter has been recognized as a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The most recent Cavalcade was on the last Sunday of August and the first Sunday of September of 2013.

Annual
The Hanswijk procession (the Sunday before Ascension)
Music Festivals:
Parkpop in the Kruidtuin (every Thursday evening in July and August)
Maanrock on the Grote Markt (the third weekend of August)
Dijle festivities on the Cultuurplein (since 2017: before that on the Vismarkt, and also once on the IJzerenleen)

Very organized
Carillon concerts from the cathedral
All year round on Saturday and Monday at 11:30 am and Sunday at 3:00 pm
Summer concerts from June to mid-September: every Monday at 8.30 pm

Television
The city is the setting for the Flemish drama series Dubbelleven, which first appeared on television in November 2010.
The Dijlestad was once again made unsafe in 2012 as the setting for a Flemish comic series, titled Loslopend wild & gevogelte
That same year, K3 released their film Bengeltjes, in which Mechelen is the home city for Karen, Kristel and Josje.
The storyline of the Flemish soap series Familie mainly takes place in and around the city of Mechelen, where the Van Den Bossche family has been running its family business for many years.

Local products
Beer (all from Het Anker)
Anker Pils: the former pils beer Blusser that has been available since 1998
Boscoli (formerly Boscoulis): a fruit beer
Gouden Carolus: a series of specialty beers
Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer: a series of three specialty beers
Lucifer: a blond specialty beer
Maneblusser: a blond beer (6%)

Refreshments
Mechels moon: a chocolate
Mechels daisy: a lemon cookie
Mechels turret: a shortbread

 

Religion and philosophy

Christianity
Catholicism
The Catholic Church has the largest number of believers within Mechelen Christianity. The city is the headquarters of the Belgian Roman Catholic province and the seat of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, whose main church is St. Rumbold's Cathedral, and the administrative seat of the Vicariate of Flemish Brabant and Mechelen. Mechelen, together with the municipalities of Bonheiden, Duffel, Sint-Katelijne-Waver and Zemst, forms the Mechelen deanery. The city has three parishes, all of which belong to the Mechelen federation.

Protestantism
Mechelen has three Protestant municipalities, which are part of the United Protestant Church in Belgium and the District of Antwerp-Brabant-Limburg. The Sint-Janskerk is the oldest church building. The worship services take place in the Zandpoortkerk and the VPKB church in Keizerstraat. The Ghanaian Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian church of Ghana) also holds its worship services in the Zandpoortkerk.

Nestorianism
Mechelen has a relatively large community (about 2000 believers) of Nestorian Christians, who settled in the city around 1980 after they had fled South-Eastern Turkey. Three major schools of thought can be distinguished, namely the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch.

Islam
14.7% of the population of Mechelen is Muslim. The majority are Sunnis. The city has two mosques that are both in Moroccan tradition. It concerns the Mechelen mosque and the Mosque Al Buraq.

Buddhism
Wat Dhammapateep is also located in Mechelen, a Theravada Buddhist temple with a mainly Thai community. In the garden is the largest stone Buddha statue in Europe, in green-black granite on a pedestal, all sculpted in China.

Other philosophies of life
In addition to religious reflections, there is also a branch of the Humanist Association in Mechelen. These activities regularly have activities for members and non-members based on a humanistic ideological vision.

In addition, several Masonic lodges are also active in the city. See also Freemasonry in Belgium.

 

Transport

Public transport
bus network
The bus network is operated by "De Lijn". There are eight city lines and several regional lines. The headquarters of "De Lijn" is also located in Mechelen.

Railways
The first railway lines in Belgium were built in 1835, with Mechelen as the central point: the lines to Brussels, Antwerp and Dendermonde. The first train on Belgian territory (the Olifant) ran that same year on the Mechelen-Brussels route. The city remained the center of Belgian rail traffic for several decades afterwards.

Mechelen station is located along railway lines 25 / 27 (Brussels / Schaarbeek - Antwerp) and 53 (Kortrijk - station Gent-Sint-Pieters - Dendermonde - Mechelen - Leuven). Mechelen-Nekkerspoel station is located along railway lines 25 / 27 and 27B.

Mechelen was also an important junction for the neighborhood railways. Neighborhood railways were electrified and there was a city tram network of three lines, operated by the neighborhood railways. There were trams to Heist-op-den-Berg, Boom (Antwerp), Keerbergen (Haacht, Aarschot and Brussels).

The oldest railway building in Belgium, which was located on the site of the SNCB workshop behind the station, was moved 34 meters from the track on 3 and 4 September 2013 to make room for a road connecting the track and the wharf of Belgium. the NMBS has to come. This is because this building has very special features, even some of the joints are protected. There are plans to transfer this building to the city, which wants to use the building as a public space.

road network
The A1/E19 Brussels-Antwerp passes along the west of Mechelen. The R6, the large ring road of Mechelen, runs in a semi-arc around the north of the city. The small ring R12 runs around the city center, of which a thorough conversion (under the name De Nieuwe Vesten) will be possible after the opening of the new B101 Tangent road in 2022. From Mechelen, the N1 runs in a northerly and southerly direction to Antwerp respectively. and Brussels, in the northwest direction the N16 to Sint-Niklaas and in the southeast direction the N26 to Leuven.

Bicycle
Mechelen has been declared Cycling City 2022.

Bicycle highways and other bicycle axes
Since the end of 2021, the F1 bicycle highway (Antwerp-Brussels) between the two stations has been running parallel to the Tangent and the railway from north to south. As part of this, a number of bicycle tunnels and the Arsenaalpuzzel bicycle bridge over the N26 Leuvensesteenweg (which has the shape of a puzzle piece in top view) have been opened. Other important bicycle axes are the towpath along the Dyle in the direction of Leuven (with the touristic LF Art Cities Route between Leuven and Antwerp, among others) and the F8 bicycle highway (Mechelen-Leuven) along the canal.

Waterways
Mechelen can also be reached by boat via the Dyle: there is a small marina in the center of the city. Along the water is the Dijlepad, a wooden footpath from the Lamot brewery to the Kruidtuin across the water in the city center along the sometimes centuries-old houses with balconies on the water.

Inner city
The center of Mechelen is located within the old ramparts, where the ring road R12 now runs.

In 1995, Mechelen was the very first Belgian city to install a zone 30 throughout the city centre. Since November 2019, the entire city center of Mechelen has also been a bicycle zone, where motorized traffic is not allowed to overtake cyclists.

The city center also has a car-free part, which started with the Grote Markt and the surrounding area. Since 7 December 2011, the zone has been expanded with four residential streets and their side streets (Lange Schipstraat, Korte Schipstraat and Lekkernijstraatje; Zoutwerf, Hoogstraatje, 't Plein and Maalderijstraatje; Sint-Janstraat and Sint-Janskerkhof; Begijnenstraat and Drabstraat). Since 1 July 2020, the car-free zone has been further expanded with the IJzerenleen, its side streets and part of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwestraat. Later, after the redevelopment of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwestraat in 2021, the entire street will be car-free. Enforcement is done by means of ANPR cameras.

The city center has (usually underground) car parks on the Grote Markt, at the cathedral, on the Veemarkt, at the Inno (Leermarkt/Bruul), at Lamot, Hoogstraat, parking Bruul on the Speecqvest, Zwartzustersvest and at Tinel. There is an edge car park on Rode Kruisplein (next to which a new parking building will be built in 2020 that will replace it), on Zandpoortvest and on Douaneplein and De Nekker.

The city offers a free Shopping Shuttle that connects the city center every Saturday (when the weekly market takes place) and on some Sundays with free peripheral car parks. The route is on the one hand between De Nekker and the Grote Markt (since 2014) and on the other, since 15 June 2020, between Mechelen-South and Korenmarkt.