Modern-day Leuven’s size and low-key profile belies its epic history. Still, it would be hard to describe the city as undiscovered, and the 25,000 students that attend Belgium’s oldest university make sure it’s not sleepy. In many ways it’s close to being the ideal city. Its ancient history, writ large in the buildings of the Old Town, comes with a thriving cultural scene, good bars and restaurants, packed onto a space you can cycle across in around 15 minutes.
Those thousands of students make good use of the well developed cycle infrastructure. As a visitor, you soon learn to dodge cyclists as they zip past or to otherwise suffer the consequences. With so many extraordinary sights packed into the Old Town, it’s hard not to allow your attention to wander. The shrill ringing of a bicycle bell (or the occasional shouted admonishment) soon brings you back to reality.
It’s been almost three years since we last visited which, given Leuven is a 20 minute train ride from Brussels, is unforgivable. To compensate, we’ve been back twice in the last two months and have taken our time to explore it. Leuven’s history dates back to its founding around 891, originally as a fortress on the banks of the River Dyle. It was the Dukes of Brabant in the 11th century that cemented its fortunes though.
The Dukes of Brabant made Leuven their capital and it flourished on trade, but grew wealthy as Europe’s premiere centre of linen manufacture. Its fortunes declined after its citizens decided to murder a group of nobles during a dispute. After a typically bloody response, the Dukes of Brabant upped sticks and relocated to the nondescript Brussels suburb of Vilvoorde.
Luckily for Leuven, in 1425 its world famous university was founded and ushered in a whole new era of progress. It was the Dukes of Brabant who were responsible for the Abdij van Park, or Park Abbey, where we began our visit to Leuven. In 1129, Duke Godfrey I, known as ‘the Bearded’, dedicated the grounds of his game park to the Order of the Norbertines, who built a magnificent abbey in the beautiful grounds.
Now open to the public, the walk through the park and around the abbey’s fish ponds is wonderful. The abbey has had ups and downs, especially when the monks were evicted and the estate sold off when the French Revolution came to town. What you see today survives from the 17th century and the monks have returned. After a walk and visit to the 13th century Church of Saint-John-the-Evangelist, we headed into town.
First stop was for a snack at the Bar Del Sol in a square near the Groot Begijnhof. The UNESCO World Heritage listed begijnhof, once home to a community of lay religious women, is a beguiling place. Life here was also monastic, just without taking religious orders. Like Abbey Park, it feels like a sanctuary. Today it’s a university halls of residence. Not quite as monastic.
Leuven is famed both for making (it’s the home of Stella Artois) and drinking (it hosts what’s claimed to be the world’s longest bar) beer. We walked through the Oude Markt, where every building, more-or-less, is a bar, but went one street back to the classic ‘brown’ bar, De Metafoor. Have a seat outside in the narrow street and watch Leuven life pass by up close and personal.
We wandered through the Grote Markt, passed by the exquisite medieval glory of Leuven Stadhuis and into Saint Peter’s Church. The church is quite plain inside but home to a couple of paintings by Flemish masters. A very late lunch in one of the restaurants on the Vismarkt, the old fish market, rounded off an illuminating day in a much underrated city.
