DEAR VISITOR OF OUR BEAUTIFUL MUNICIPALITY As Alderman for Tourism, I am honoured to present to you our tourist guide. A guide that is the brainchild of an enthusiastic team. It is a collection of the locals’ favourite places, peppered with beautiful photos and set out in a readily-understood format. ‘See’ Herzele. Herzele offers a lot of surprising places that are worth discovering. During your visit, you can enjoy the many sights of Herzele or the beautiful rolling landscape of one of the boroughs. Come and see Herzele through the lens of an (amateur) photographer, who captured the most beautiful spots for you. ‘Do’ Herzele. There’s never a dull moment in Herzele. There are plenty of activities for young and old. Along the various walking and cycling routes, you can always count on idyllic tracks, beautiful forest roads and surprising stops. Discover the ‘Duivenbos’ (Pigeon Forest) or the Schaubroeck nature reserve. Take part in the many activities on offer. In short: experience Herzele to the full. Are you a gourmet? Sampling what Herzele has to offer is an absolute must. Have a nice Herzele beer in one of our cafés or accompanied by a delicious meal in one of our restaurants. Or how about a regional product or a speciality from the local trader? A true joy! Thanks to the combination of numerous activities and the beautiful surroundings, you are bound to return home with your batteries fully charged. Convinced? Enjoy this magazine and experience Herzele! For more information, you can always contact our Tourist Office in Herzele. Contact details and opening hours can be found below. Best wishes, Heidi Knop Team Toerisme Herzele Alderman for Tourism 3 HERZELE TO SEE4 TO DO16 TO SAMPLE22 4 © Bert Van Den Eeckhout Van © Bert HERZELE THROUGH THE LENS S THERE , OF LOCAL [AMATEUR] PHOTOGRAPHERS Have your cameras or smartphones at the ready, because in Herzele, you won’t know where to look first: an old castle ruin, three working mills, castles, religious heritage, to name but a few. Our local (amateur) photographers, who are only too aware of this, will be happy to show you round their own municipality. WHAT TO SEE CASTLE 5 The castle symbolises Herzele’s former fiefdom, an important area © Bert Van Den Eeckhout Van © Bert within the Land of Aalst. This forti- fication, important parts of which1 are still visible today, was built ac- cording to a geometric floor plan and dates from the 13th century. It was initially inhabited by the local lords. DU PARC LOCMARIA CASTLE The castle, owned by the du Parc Locmaria family, was built in 1840 in In Ghent’s struggle against Louis of classical style by Baron Van de Woestyne. At the beginning of the 20th Male (Louis II of Flanders), Count of century, the castle was rebuilt in the neoclassical Louis XVI style. Flanders, Seger van Herzele was one of its allies. In 1381, the count had At the entrance, there are three remarkable houses that used to the castle set on fire as a reprisal and accommodate the castle staff. The beautiful oak and lime-tree-lined confiscated the estate. The fiefdom avenue offers a view of the unique castle park, laid out in a strict classicist was subsequently donated to the style. In the park, you will also find an English garden, an ice cellar and a lords of Roubaix and the castle was pond. restored. From then on, the estate was run remotely. In 1579, the Between the two world wars, the meadows next to the avenue were the Catholic Spaniards completely razed scene of famous horse races which drew Belgium’s beau monde at the the castle to the ground in their time. battle with Protestant Flanders. Due to the castle’s location, on top of a south-facing slope, the property Through marriages, inheritances and is visible from afar. sales, the castle and the estate finally came into the hands of the family du MORE INFO: Parc Locmaria in the 19th century. • www.herzele.be/kasteel-duparc In 1969, the town council was given • The castle and its park are not open to the public.. the castle ruins and started the restoration work. Today, part of the Address: Kasteeldreef (no number), Herzele moat, a restored residential tower and the consolidated substructure are still intact. The castle site became Herzele’s touristic showpiece and the place to be for many events. It is one of the few remaining castle sites in our province. MORE INFO: • www.herzele.be/burcht • Go to the Tourist Office and ask for a guided tour. Address: Kerkstraat (z/n), Herzele © Pepijn De Paepe © Pepijn 2 6 WHAT'S THERE TO SEE STEENHUIZE- WIJNHUIZE CASTLE The present castle was built in 1628 by Jeanne Richardot and (partly) covers the foundations of an older castle. In 1978, the castle was purchased by the Van Waeyenberge family, well-known industrialists from Steenhuize-Wijnhuize. They completely over-hau- led the castle between 1982 and 1988. The result of this restoration was awarded the prestigious Europa Nostra Award. The castle park boasts several outbuildings, including a striking dovecote tower (later used as an orangery), a well-preserved ice cellar and a pillory. On the western edge of the park is the estate’s listed farmhouse, named after the last tenant and later owner Alphonse Van Oudenhove. The current buildings date from 1774. During the late 19th century, it housed a chicory roasting house. 3 © Gabriël Redant MORE INFO: • www.herzele.be/kasteel-steenhuize • The castle and its park are not open to the public. Address: Kloosterberg 32, Steenhuize-Wijnhuize wide moat. On the upper court there was a wooden or stone construction. Each motte castle also had a moated courtyard. This was the residence of the local lord and his family and consisted of a house, a chapel, stables, barns and other utilities. The courtyard is no longer visible, but was located north of the courtyard. 4 Livinus alias Marc Lievens Ressegem castle dates from the 11th-12th century and was the residence of the Lords of Ressegem-Borsbeke. © Paul © Paul The site was probably destroyed in the 16th century. When in 1843, the vicarage was built right next to the motte, the hill was connected to the vicarage garden by RESSEGEM MOTTE an iron bridge. Today, the moat is maintained by a fisher- In the centre of Ressegem, there has been an artificial men’s club that bears the evocative name of ‘De Walvis- earthen hill for centuries, surrounded by a wide moat. sers’. Locally, this site is referred to as ‘De Wal’ (The Wall). It is a remnant of a medieval fortress, called a motte castle, and one of the best preserved examples in Flanders. MORE INFO: • www.herzele.be/motte-ressegem A motte castle is the forerunner of the medieval geome- • Go to the Tourist Office and ask for a guided tour. tric castle and consists of two parts. Firs, there is the upper court, which is an artificial hill, surrounded by a deep and Address: Sint-Mauritsplein (no number), Ressegem 7 DE WATTENFABRIEK [THE COTTON MILL] The youth, cultural and lending service, the library, the academy of performing arts and visual arts, multi-pur- pose spaces for socio-cultural activities, the youth cen- tre, the local radio and the Tourist Office. They are all under one roof in De Wattenfabriek on the Solleveld. However, this impressive building is not a new build, but the product of a massive renovation project. © Kurt Minne The building was originally a cotton mill, which was built in 1925 by the company Ets. François Saey from Ghent. In OLD TRAM STATION6 1970, the doors of the mill shut for good. The company The train still passes through our municipality to- L’Ouate from Zaventem purchased the empty property day. For the tram, we have to go back to the year and started producing cotton wool for laboratories, de- 1955, when the local tram passed through Herzele, partment stores and so on. Twenty years later, L’Ouate Sint-Lievens-Esse and Steenhuize for the last time. was sold to a Dutch company, which in 1994, decided to stop production in Herzele. The administration remained On 23 June 1907, the first local tram ran from Merel- there for a few years and the building was used as a wa- beke to Herzele. Herzele tram station was a tempo- rehouse, but that did not last either. The factory has then rary end station, because a few years later, the line stood empty for a couple of years. was extended to Geraardsbergen, with also a tram station in Sint-Lievens-Esse and Steenhuize. The sta- The municipal council saw an opportunity and bought te was the most important financier of the route, but the building and the surrounding site. Right from the also the municipalities made their contributions. For start, everyone agreed that the building should be mul- example, Herzele paid 41,000 Belgian francs. ti-purpose. The demolition eventually started in 2005; renovation followed in 2007. De Wattenfabriek officially The route through our boroughs, and, by extension, opened its doors at Easter in 2012. the entire local railway network, however, was short- lived. Other means of transport were being offered MORE INFO: and the running costs were prohibitively high. Her- • www.dewattenfabriek.be zele tram station now houses the non-profit asso- • Go to the Tourist Office and ask for a guided tour. ciation ‘t Uilekot and Eco&Fair; in Sint-Lievens-Esse, there is the restaurant De Tramstatie and in Steen- Address: Solleveld 35, Herzele huize the station was converted into a house.