Kortrijk Béguinage

Kortrijk, Belgium

The Saint Elisabeth Béguinage (Begijnhof) from 1238 is a combination of a béguinage square and street and was added to UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998. The Kortrijk béguinage was surrounded by the castle of the Counts of Flanders, the city walls and the St. Martin's Church Cemetery and is situated between the Church of Our Lady and the St. Martin's Church. The Kortrijk béguinage has been destroyed several times and its current form dates back to the 17th century. It comprises forty small Baroque houses each with an enclosed front garden.

The house with the double stepped-gable (1649) belonged to the 'Grand Dame'. The remarkable stair turret is the corner tower of the former St. Anna hall from 1682. In the Sint-Annaroom you will find the new experience centre. Her you will be immersed in many centuries of history in a remarkably dynamic manner. The béguinage also includes three chapels, including the Gothic Saint Matthew Chapel from 1464 that was transformed into the Baroque style in the 18th century. House number 41, near the entrance to the béguinage, will be converted into a house museum.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1238
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Belgium

More Information

www.toerismekortrijk.be

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Ihor Zeiger (11 months ago)
Amazing place, historical beguinage
A. Faruk UNAL (2 years ago)
Calm and relaxing place to walk around. It also looks like that the atmosphere had been same during medieval times, like everyone lived here in peace. A cool, relaxed neighborhood ?
Bernardo Pagnoncelli (2 years ago)
This is a magical place! Walking around the houses in those narrow streets really takes you back in time. The place is well kept, and it feels like an open-air museum. If you have time for one thing in Courtrai, this is it!
Vit Soupal (3 years ago)
Amazing place with 13. century history roots.
Lynn (3 years ago)
Very calm and beautiful place. Can learn about the religious history of the place.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.

Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.

Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.