Tongerlo - Abbey

(Local Name: 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.