Aalst - Original Town Hall

(Local Name: Schepenhuis and Belfry) Begun in 1225 and now the oldest building of its kind in the Netherlands, the Schepenhuis (the original town hall) dominates the Grote Markt. The entire evolution of Gothic architecture over three centuries can be clearly traced in this ancient sandstone edifice. The rear facade and side facing onto Kattestraat both date from the first half of the 13th C. and are of particular interest. The other side and the main facade were built later, following a fire in 1407. The beautiful Belfry (1470) with its carillon of 52 bells juts out to the right of the main facade. Embellished with Flamboyant Gothic pinnacles (1543-44) the tower bears the town's motto "Nec spe nec metu" ("Neither