Dendermonde, which is situated where by the River Dender enters the Scheldt River, is a Medieval city full of critical heritage.
Two UNESCO Entire world Heritage Internet sites make headlines: a single a Gothic Belfry, another a beguinage that dates back into the thirteenth Century.
Ros Beiaard, a folkloristic horse that Dendermonde claimed to get renowned for, is another assert to fame. Ros Beiaard saved its grasp (4 Sons of Aymon), from currently being captured by Charlemagne.
This 800kg wooden beast, which is ridden by 4 brothers that are Medieval riders, is paraded about Dendermonde each ten yrs, most just lately in 2020.
Ros Beiaard, a true VIP, is no doubt. It is really even the topic Dendermondes' city anthem.
Grote Markt
It's astounding to are convinced Dendermonde's principal sq. has become a meeting spot for numerous years.
This Place was originally the outer bailey for just a castle. Excavations have unveiled an 11th-century cemetery.
The Vleeshuis (meathall) and the town hall, with its Gothic belfry at the moment are at your observe.
In 2004, the sq. was paved by using a style by Harold Van de Perre.
Sit again and enjoy a neighborhood tripel, dubbel or beer within the terraces. If you feel brave, You may as well pair it by using a bit of neighborhood specialty, headcheese, which has a dash mustard.
Each individual Monday, there are actually markets. In early December, a large Christmas market place is held here.
Stadhuis
For its amazing belfry, which is among 56 shown towers in Belgium and Northern France, the thirteen-century city hall has long been designated a UNESCO Entire world Heritage Site.
Dendermonde's Belfry was originally built like a corner tower to guidance the city's cloth Corridor.
The setting up featured stepped gables and rows of niches with finely carved facts. It absolutely was incorporated into the town corridor in fifteenth century.
Since the 16th century, the belfry has had a carillon. It had been reinstalled in 1970 after the stop of WWI. On Sundays and Mondays involving eleven:00 and twelve:00, you are able to get pleasure from a live performance by town’s carilloneur.
You are able to accessibility the town corridor, belfry, and fabric corridor with a self-guided audioguide tour.
This is a distinctive knowledge that you will not want to skip, Specifically Along with the great artwork selection on the very first floor. It is mostly from your 19th-century Dendermondse College but in addition incorporates will work by Piet Van de Ouderaa and Henry De Noble.
Vleeshuismuseum
Grote Markt's magnificent Late Gothic meat investing corridor was built-in 1462 to replace an more mature composition relationship again to your thirteenth century.
The bottom flooring was the place regional butchers could trade, and it had been the sole location in Dendermonde that they had been allowed to sell to the general public.
Within the 1860s, the old meat counters were dismantled and the corridor turned a protected vegetable market place.
The museum was recognized in 1899 and survived the primary Planet War unharmed.
Inside, you'll find a mammoth skeleton that is serious and thirty,000 several years previous, centuries-aged blades and firearms, and a picket Merovingian and Saxon figurehead.
It's also possible to find out about Dendermonde's culture and understand the town's processional giants along with Ros Beiaard, the hero horse.
Begijnhof
Lay religious Women of all ages who did not consider poverty vows lived in this Group considering that its founding in 1288 and until finally the death of the final beguine in 1975. The Sint-Alexiusbegijnhof has 61 houses with a grassy trapezoidal sq., reconstructed at the end of the sixteenth century soon after an iconoclastic riot.
In 1998, the beguinage was designated a UNESCO Earth Heritage Web site. A museum was also established to maintain homes No. eleven,24, 25, and the Infirmary, which dates back again to 1709, all contributed to the maintenance of the location.
These buildings are crammed with antique home furniture and appliances that provide Perception into the way of life of a beguine in the 19th Dendermonde travel guide 2023 and twentieth centuries.
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk
The attractive Sheldt Gothic Church with its octagonal tower has lots of treasures.
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk attained its existing structure once the former 11th-century Romanesque making was reworked in between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The framework the thing is attached to church's east aspect is a component of the chapterhouse, that has been around in a few variety or Yet another Considering that the 12th Century.
Initially, there are paintings within by Anthony van Dyck and Gaspar de Crayer.
It's also wise to take time for you to begin to see the twelfth century Romanesque baptismal font produced from Tournai's blue-black limestone. Also, it is best to think about the 17th-century Baroque Choir Display, the pulpit and various finely carved items of church household furniture which were produced throughout the similar time.
The church treasury shimmers with precious silver and gold liturgical products like monstrances, reliquaries, and a lot more.
Abdij van Dendermonde
In the guts of Dendermonde, you will find An additional impressive monument: the Benedictine abbey at Vlasmarkt.
This church is devoted to St Peter and St Paul. It absolutely was Established in 1837 by one the last monks of Affligem Abbey. The monastery was destroyed inside the French Revolution of 1797. Dendermonde's abbey was created on the location of the outdated Capuchin monastery from sixteenth century. It was reconstructed within the neoGothic design at the end of 19th century.
A part of the Prinsenhof palace was also purchased with the monks.
Regretably, the elaborate was seriously weakened by fires during World War I and was rebuilt within the 1920s.
Dendermonde Tripel is really a extremely prized abbey beer that the monks of the abbey make their living from. It is dim blond, major-fermented and it has a delicate sweet taste.
Smaragdus is often a high-quality herbal liqueur that could be utilised being a digestif and in desserts.
Except for the attractive, low-vital basilica and monastic store, the abbey stays closed to visitors apart from on Whit Monday afternoon, when attendees will likely have unusual opportunity to view how a monastery operates during the twenty first Century.
Dendermonde-Puurs Steam Railway
A 14-kilometer heritage line runs concerning Dendermonde, Puurs and Antwerp. It can be open in July, August, and September.
A non-earnings society usually takes treatment in the railway's nine steam and diesel locomotives, in several states of restoration.
The trip will take you through the Antwerp and East Flanders countrysides inside of a 1930s-era carriage. It takes about 70 minutes for getting from Baasrode-Noord, Dendermonde to Sint-Amands.
To view rolling stock, the railway's ongoing do the job and also to view the depot and property in Dendermonde, You can even visit the workshop and lawn.
Gerechtsgebouw van Dendermonde (Justititiepaleis)
In Medieval instances, the Lords of Dendermonde lived within the current Court docket of 1st Instance Found about the left financial institution of Oude Dender.
The castle was given to your Carmelite monastery in 1664. It was later on destroyed over the French Revolution.
After the destruction with the Neoclassical developing, the grand neogothic courthouse you see right now is the 2nd.
The decoration from the facade was performed by Oscar Sinia and Geo Verbanck, two notable sculptors.
Dendermonde's folkloristic horse Ros Beiaard (mounted because of the Four Sons of Aymon) might be identified.
The facade also characteristics the coats of arms of Belgium's many judicial regions. Also, the tower from the palace is decorated with gilded Owls being a image for wisdom.
Bastion VIII
Dendermonde was enclosed by walls up to a metre large in addition to a network of canals until finally the twentieth century. This is a remnant of its background being a barrier fortress that protected the Kingdom of France from your Dutch Republic.
You may see proof of defensive structures through the entire metropolis. When you've got a map, it is simple to discover the route with the moat.
The previous bastion was demolished and turned into a landfill inside the west of Dendermonde.
The location was saved some many years ago and is now a nature schooling Heart, principally geared to schools.
It is an incredible destination to have a stroll with all your developed-ups, as it's so near town Centre.
A handful of boards with interpretive signs identify the previous defenses. They can be found inside of a mosaic habitat of freshwater, scrub, and soaked woodland.
Wandelroute: Dendermonde Vestingstad
The vacationer Business has established a going for walks path of 3 kilometres by Dendermonde's armed service heritage.
The route is just not signposted but you can obtain a map and leaflet without cost.
Bastions, ravelins and restored metropolis gates are only a few of the sights you'll see.
This leaflet features in-depth descriptions of each and every sight together with explanations on the intricate geopolitics that created Dendermonde prone to invasion.