Belgium

Belgium is situated in northwestern Europe with its borders touching Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France. While Dutch is the official language most people speak French and German as well as English, notably in the Flemish region.

Belgium’s landscape is full of contrasts ranging from the sprawling plains in the north and the west to the rivers and gorges of the Ardennes in the southeast. Belgium boast rich forestland near the border with Germany as well as infinite stretches of sandy beaches along the northern coast. Belgium is also extremely rich in historical sites, dotted throughout the country, with churches, castles and picturesque ancient cities.

Brussels, the capital is also rich in historical heritage with the spectacular Gothic Grand Place, the St Gudule’s Cathedral, the splendid Place Royale and the Mont des Arts Park amongst many other historical and cultural sites.

Antwerp offers more traditional attractions as well as contemporary ones with the striking Grote Markt, commemorating the legend of the city’s origins and the 18th century Groenplaats, featuring the statue of Rubens. The city of Bruges is an UNESCO World Heritage site, of magnificent splendor with its Cathedral, belfry tower and 14th century town hall. Gent is yet another town which boasts many historical sites as well as Liège, whose citadel towers over the riverbank of the River Meuse. Finally do not miss Belgium’s second oldest city, Tournai, which features two UNESCO heritage buildings, the Cathedral of Our Lady and the oldest belfry in Belgium.

The climate is typically seasonal, warm from May to September with wet winters and frequent snowfalls.

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    Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp

    The Cathedral of Our Lady is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's see of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. In Gothic style, its architects were Jan and Pieter Appelmans.

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    Cathedral of Our Lady, Tournai

    The Cathedral of Our Lady is Roman Catholic church, see of the Diocese of Tournai in Tournai, Belgium. It has been classified both as a Wallonia's major heritage since 1936 and as a World Heritage Site since 2000.

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    City Hall and Belfry, Charleroi

    The City Hall with a circumference of 240 meters is a stately and impressive building and was inaugurated on 18 October 1936. It was designed by architect Joseph Andre. Three heavy bronze doors give access to a hall of honour covered with marble.

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    City Hall and Belfry, Diksmuide

    The City Hall and the Belfry with it's tower dominate the central market square of Diksmuide. Both were destroyed during the first world war and for the reconstruction the architects Jos. Vierin and Valentin Vaerwyck chose for new buildings in traditional flemish renaissance style.

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    City Hall and Belfry, Eeklo

    The red-brick city hall, is a mixture of 17th century Flemish Renaissance architecture and modern renovations. One of the later additions (1930-32) is the belfry tower, which houses the town bells formerly kept in the adjacent church.

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    City Hall and Belfry, Menen

    The belfry of Menen has had a turbulent history which the building still bears witness to. In 1999 it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage Site.

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    City Hall and Belfry, Nieuwpoort

    The building has a 35m-high sandy-coloured belfry. The complex together with other Flemish belfries have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

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    City Hall and Belfry, Veurne

    Several Renaissance-style buildings, mostly built using the local light-coloured brick, adorn Veurne’s central market square, which make it one of Belgium's finest market squares. Among these are the city hall (Landhuis) and belfry, which is recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1999.

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    City Hall, Mechelen

    The Lakenhal (a cloth hall) and the 14th-century Belfry (UNESCO World Heritage ID 943-015) beside it, form now the City Hall on the main square.

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    Cloth Hall with Belfry, Ypres

    The imposing Cloth Hall was originally built in the 13th century and was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages. Cloth Hall with Belfry, Ypres.

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    Grand Place, Brussels

    The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two larger edifices, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse building containing the Museum of the City of Brussels.

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    Historic Centre of Bruges

    Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact. The historic centre of Bruges has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.

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    Hotel Solvay

    The Hotel Solvay is a large Art Nouveau town house designed by Victor Horta on the Avenue Louise in Brussels. The house was commissioned by Armand Solvay, the son of the wealthy Belgian chemist and industrialist Ernest Solvay.

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    Hotel Tassel

    The Hotel Tassel is a town house built by Victor Horta in Brussels for the Belgian scientist and professor Emile Tassel in 1893–1894. It is generally considered as the first true Art Nouveau building, because of its highly innovative plan and its groundbreaking use of materials and decoration.

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    Hotel van Eetvelde

    The Hotel van Eetvelde is a town house designed in 1895 by Victor Horta for Edmond van Eetvelde, administrator of Congo Free State. Together with the Hotel Tassel, the Hotel Solvay and his own House and atelier it was put on the 'UNESCO World Heritage List' in 2000 as the core of epoch-making urban residences Victor Horta designed before 1900.

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    Large Beguinage, Mechelen

    Historical quarter where semi-monastic women known as Beguines used to live. The predecessor of this beguinage, founded in the 13th century outside the city walls, was destroyed in the 16th century, the Beguine community then re-established itself in an existing neighborhood within the walls.

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    Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes

    The Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes are among the largest and earliest Neolithic flint mines of north-western Europe, located close to Walloon village of Spiennes, southeast of Mons, Belgium. The mines were active during the mid and late Neolithic (4300–2200 BC). The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 2000.

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    Our-Lady Ter Hooyen (Beguinage), Ghent

    The small beguinage O.L.V. Ter Hooyen is situated in southern area of Ghent. This beguinage was built on the 'Groene Hooie', between the 'Hooipoort' and the 'Vijfwindgatenpoort'. That is how this little beguinage got its name.

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    Plantin-Moretus Museum

    The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium honouring the printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus. It is located in their former residence and printing establishment, Plantin Press, at the Friday Market.

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    Schepenhuis and Belfry, Aalst

    The Schepenhuis (Aldermen's House) of Aalst, Belgium, is a former city hall, one of the oldest in the Low Countries. Dating originally from 1225, it was partially rebuilt twice as a result of fire damage, first after a 1380 war and again after a fireworks accident in 1879.

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    Sint-Amandsberg (Beguinage), Ghent

    The Great Beguinage at St. Amandsberg, situated on a domain of 8 hectares, was built between 1872 and 1874 to accommodate the beguines who were driven from the beguinage in Ghent. When it was officially opened in 1874, no less than 700 beguines took their home here!

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    St. Agnes Beguinage, Sint-Truiden

    Founded in 1258, the St. Agnes Beguinage of Sint-Truiden is one of thirteen Flemish beguinages inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It includes a Gothic church, now a museum of religious art, in a rectangular courtyard bordered by centuries-old houses that were once occupied by semi-monastic women known as Beguines.

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    St. Germanus Church, Tienen

    The church is also an example of the region's building stones, especially the Overlaar quartzite. The tower (65 metres) and its carillon (54 bells) can occasionally be visited. UNESCO has recognised the tower as a world heritage site.

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    St. Leonard's Church, Zoutleeuw

    The Saint Leonard's Church in Zoutleeuw, Belgium, stands on the former site of a Romanesque chapel erected in 1125 by Benedictines from Vlierbeek Abbey near Leuven. Construction of the present church began around 1231, and additions continued into the 16th century.