St. Alex Beguinage, Dendermonde, Belgium

The St. Alex beguinage (1288) consists of 61 houses built around a trapezoidal courtyard surrounding a small church. The beguinage is an island of tranquillity in the heart of town.

Similarly to the Belfry, the St. Alex beguinage has been proclaimed UNESCO World Heritage in 1998. To keep the memory of the beguines alive, one small house (nr.11 H. Bonifacius) has been furnished as an authentic beguine's home.

In 1975 the last beguine, Miss Ernestine De Bruyne, died. Her former home (nr. 25 H. Begga) holds a museum of folklore. Spread over three floors and a great many rooms, visitors will learn about housekeeping, work and recreation in the lives of former generations.

House nr. 20 disposes of a detailed historical documentation centre with a specialized library, photographs and slides concerning Dendermonde.

References:

Dendermonde Tourism

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Belgium

User Reviews

Roby Thankachan (2 years ago)
The Beguinage Museum in Dendermonde is located in the house that inhabited Ernestine de Bruyne, the last beguinage of Dendermonde. In the same building there is also a museum of folklore. In many rooms, on three floors you can get to know the everyday life of the Dendermonde residents. Building No. 11 (H. Bobnifacius) has been decorated just like an authentic beguines home. It is extraordinary that this interesting museum can be visited for free.

Joris Van Damme (2 years ago)
Very quiet and peaceful place in the middle of the city center. Renovations are planned but not yet started. So the roads can be filled with puddles when it rains. Know that people live there so please respect their privacy.

Virginie Cohen (3 years ago)
A very nice place to take a short break , while being in the city of Dendermonde

Lindsay Geerts (3 years ago)
Oase v rust

Laura Roelants (4 years ago)
It's a great place to learn more about local history, and the lawn is nice to spend some time on a sunny day. They also added some art pieces by a local artist.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Steve Clasper

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The Cloth Hall in Kraków dates to the Renaissance and is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the main market square in the Kraków Old Town (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978).

The hall was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, the hall was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the east – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported textiles, lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

Kraków was Poland's capital city and was among the largest cities in Europe already from before the time of the Renaissance. However, its decline started with the move of the capital to Warsaw in the very end of the 16th century. The city's decline was hastened by wars and politics leading to the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century. By the time of the architectural restoration proposed for the cloth hall in 1870 under Austrian rule, much of the historic city center was decrepit. A change in political and economic fortunes for the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ushered in a revival due to newly established Legislative Assembly or Sejm of the Land. The successful renovation of the Cloth Hall, based on design by Tomasz Pryliński and supervised by Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz, Sejm Marshal, was one of the most notable achievements of this period.

The hall has hosted many distinguished guests over the centuries and is still used to entertain monarchs and dignitaries, such as Charles, Prince of Wales and Emperor Akihito of Japan, who was welcomed here in 2002. In the past, balls were held here, most notably after Prince Józef Poniatowski had briefly liberated the city from the Austrians in 1809. Aside from its history and cultural value, the hall still is still used as a center of commerce.

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The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art was a major cultural venue from the moment it opened on October 7, 1879. It features late Baroque, Rococo, and Classicist 18th-century portraits and battle scenes by Polish and foreign pre-Romantics.

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