Sint-Truiden (French Saint-Trond) is the chief town of the Haspengouw (French Hesbaye), the market center of an extensive fruit-growing area (principally cherries), and at the same time an important industrial base with a sugar refinery and various other industries. The cherry blossom and the harvest are an excuse for lively festivals.
Sint-Truiden developed around an abbey which St Trudo had founded in 657. The town received a charter in the 11th C. and was surrounded by fortifications in 1086. At first the Benedictine abbey came under the jurisdiction of the abbot and bishop of Metz, whose place was taken in the 13th C. by the prince-bishop of Liège.
In this period Sint-Truiden developed into an important center of cloth production on the trade routes between Bruges and Cologne. After the town had fallen to the French in 1795 the monastery was suppressed. From 1814 Sint-Truiden belonged to the Netherlands until the founding of the Belgian kingdom.
The Town Hall in Sint-Truiden has a 17th century tower classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as the buildings of Sint-Agnes. The architecture in Sint-Truiden includes examples of Baroque architecture on the gable of the town hall and the Minderbroederkerk.
About 12km/7.5mi to the east of Sint-Truiden, we come to Borgloon, once the chief town of the county of Loon, where just outside to the north lies the monastery of Kolen. It was founded in the 13th C. by crusaders and then taken over by the Cistercians. The reliquary of St Odile which was made in 1292 is kept in the sacristy; scenes from the life of the saint are painted on the wooden sides.
The Festraetsstudio opposite the begijnhof should be visited. It contains an astronomical clock assembled by Kamiel Festraets (1904-1974) from over 20,000 individual parts. It is 6m/20ft high and the largest of its kind in the world. Also to be seen are other exceptionally fine examples of mechanical apparatus.
Address: Sint Truiden Tourist Office, Grote Markt, B-3800 Sint Truiden, Belgium
In the north of the town the little Romanesque-Gothic church of Guvelingen occupies a lonely position. Here during the cherry blossom festival the orchards are blessed.
A visit should be paid to Kortenbos, 6.5km/4mi east of Sint-Truiden, to see the Basilica of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw, the interior of which retains its rich Baroque decoration.
Opposite the Ursulinenklooster is the Minderbroederkerk built in 1731, the interior of which is impressive because of its size (100m/328ft long, 16m/52.5ft wide and 26m/85ft high).
Not far west of the market place stands Sint-Maartenkerk, the tower (1550) of which is one of the jewels of early Renaissance architecture. The nave was constructed in the 19th C. in neo-Romanesque style.
Situated 3km/2mi northeast of Sint-Truiden is Zepperen where the church of Sint-Genoveva (15th and 16th C.) has an interior which was painted in 1509 with frescoes illustrating the legend of St Genoveva and the Last Judgment. The tower dates from the 12th C.
Read More
Read Less
Read More
Grote Markt
Read Less
Read More
Borgloon - Klooster van Kolen, Belgium
