Tongerlo - Abbey Abdij van Tongerlo
The abbey of Tongerlo, 9km/5mi southwest of Tongerlo, was founded by the Premonstratensians of Sint-Michielsabdij of Antwerp in 1130, who set about converting the heathens. Following the French Revolution the abbey was abandoned and only re-inhabited and restored in 1840. The oldest parts of the building are the 14th C. tower and a barn dating from the 15th C.; the remaining buildings originate from various later epochs to the neo-Gothic Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk (1851-1858). A splendid avenue of lime trees, planted in 1676, leads up to the entrance.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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Related Attractions
Museum da Vinci
In the abbey is the Museum da Vinci, which has a remarkable copy of "The Last Supper", painted barely 20 years after Leonardo had finished the original for the Santa Marie delle Grazie church in Milan. The copy in Tongerlo was acquired for the abbey church in 1545. Other paintings include a small Pietà by Roger van der Weyden.
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