Belgian UNESCO World Heritage

Belgium is so small I hear often say, but that doesn’t mean we have less to offer our tourists. Because belgium is and has always been a very densily populated region we have a lot of cultural treasures. This is acknowledged by the UNESCO: with nine cultural world heritage sites we perform very well.

The Béguinages of Flanders
The beguinages were once places where religious women lived independantly. They can hardly be compared to nuns as they didn’t take vows, lived independantly, didn’t fall under the authority of the church and could leave anytime to get married. Their colonies often form little paradises of peace in the hectic city centers of today. They are now used for social means and serve as cheap housing for disabled people or students. Often there’s some little museum and shop, but if there isn’t you will always find that the charming houses, rustic streets, churches, chapels and parcs make your visit worthwhile.

The Big Market Square in Brussels
Victor Hugo named it the most beautiful square in Europe and although tastes differ, it has certainly a lot of cultural, historical and architectural value. The town hall and bread house date from the 15th century, all other buildings where founded after the bombardments by louis XIV and show us the nice Flemish-Italian style from the end of the 17th century. When you are there, you can’t skip the museum in the bread house: here you will find over 500 costumes of Manneken Pis. The first dates from 1698 and consists of just a few fragments. But they also still have the first fully preserved costume given by the French king Louis XV in 1747 and many other authentic clothing.

The Four Hydraulic Boat Elevators in La Louvière
This piece of industrial archeology is something that will interest fewer people, but they sure will be amazed by the advanced technology on the end of the 19th century. The elevators lift the boats to a position 66 meters higher on the canal. Today they are still in use by recreational boats and the industrial ones pass by a new elevator inaugurated in 2002 that can lift boats from up to 1350 tonne.

The Belfries of Belgium
Belfries emmerged in the 11th centuries together with the cities. Before, only nobility and the church could build big towers, but in those days the cities flourished and wanted to show off their power. Inside the tower of the belfry there is ususally a carillon: this musical instrument with at least 23 cup-shaped bells announced certain events. It played when the city gates opened and closed, when the work day started and ended, when there was a fire and also every hour. Up till today the carillon plays the most beatiful tunes and demonstrates many arquitectural styles at their height.

The Historical Center of Bruges
Bruges has a lot to offer, not only historical buildings and paintings! It’s ideal for wandering around next to the canals and discovering peacefull ponds and parcs behind a charming alley. You’ll see that the name Venice of the North isn’t stolen. This place has an incredible history that you can further explore in the various museums and churches. But when you like shopping you will like it just as much. Cars are rare in the rustic streets and chocolate shops and fashion stores alternate with restaurants and souvenir shops. Here you can go treasure-hunting for rare beers and if that’s not enough why don’t you pay a visit to the local brewery? See… you won’t get bored here soon!

The Houses by Architect Victor Horta in Brussels
Now they look very classy and old, but in his own time the buildings constructed by Victor Horta were something totally new. They are typical examples of the Modern Art (Also known as Lyberty Style, Art Nouveau and various other names.). If you look at them from the outside you’ll like them, but take a look at the inside and you’ll be stunned. Definately worth a visit is the house and workshop of the master himself.

The Flint Mines of the Neolithicum at Spiennes
In Spiennes – a small vilage of less than a thousand inhabitants – you can visit flint mines from the stone age. They are the oldest and also the biggest ancient mines from Europe. Flint was escavated here and exported to villages of up to 70 km away. You will be astonished that our ancestors dug about 1000 holes of about 8 meters deep with primitive tools of flint and deer antlers.

The Cathedral of Our Lady in Tournai
This church is an extraordinary beautiful place. Not many tourists will come here and that’s a shame, but the better for us! It’s almost unbelievable that this gigantic church was built in the early 12th century! The church is nicely divided in two styles: the choir is early Gothic style from the 13th century and the rest of the church with it’s five impressive towers is late Romanesque. Very rare are the fresco’s dating back from the 13th century, where in most churches they dissapeared due to erosion or fashion changes they still exits here.

The Museum, House and Workshops of Plantijn-Moretus in Antwerp
Beware when you arrive from the central station and try to get to this museum: the path to it is paved with fantastic shops and last time I visited it I got there just an hour before closing time. This is very tight to see all of the museum. You’ll need your time if you are interested in ancient buildings, old printing techniques and remarkable books. You’ll see the equipment of medieval printers, wonderfully decorated old books and the offices and chambers of the great printer-publisher of the second half of the 16th century: Christophe Plantijn.

Get to know more about these UNESCO world heritage sites.

Why are Belgian beers considered better than others?

You can’t think of Belgium without thinking of chocolate, waffles and of course beer. What’s the reason that Belgian beers are between the best of the world?

Let me begin by saying that no other country has such an amazing gamma of beers: more than 400 different types of beer take care of the thirst of Belgians and tourists alike. That’s more than a different kind of beer a day! So getting bored tasting beers is almost impossible, if you don’t write it down you’ll soon forget what the first beers you drank tasted like.

Aside from that in Belgium a real beer culture evolved. No other country takes so much care into drinking this liquid gold. Each beer has it’s own unique glass and it will be difficult to find a bar or restaurant who serves your beer in the wrong glass. They’ll serve it on the right temperature and with the right amount of foam.

Belgium breathes beer: in the smallest super market, nightshop or bar, you find a collection of the most known ales, lagers and abbey beers. There’s no minimum age for drinking beer, only to buy it you have to be 16. Indeed… it may seem unbelievable but this system works: because there’s no prohibition it’s nothing special to be drinking beer so there aren’t many young beer abusers.

Beer is far more complex than wine. It outnumbers wine in number of ingredients and undergoes various types of fermentation. This gives the beers an exquisite taste that is the result of centuries of tradition. On top of that we have bitter beers, fruit beers, dark and blond beers, white beers … a true heaven for your taste buds!

Up to three fermentations give the Belgian beer a high alcohol percentage. These beers are called “triple”, the ones with two fermentations “dubbel”. The most common beers have only one, but we like to let the beer ferment and extra time in the bottle or even in an oak barrel. Does it still come to a surprise when I say that the beer with the highest volume of alcohol in the world is Belgian? It’s called Bush Amber and has 12% of alcohol in it!

Read a more sarcastic approach of Belgian beer ’superiority’.
For other articles on visit About Belgian Beer.