The Town to Learn Bell Playing

Mechelen is a Dutch-speaking city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. The city that was once the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands. Mechelen has one of the highest concentrations of monuments North of the Alps, and is unique in Flanders in being listed not once but four times on the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage sites.

The city is located along the river Dijle. In the old days there were lots of small waters inside the city,which all branches run into the Dijle. But when the river flooded the entire city was under water. It is probably best known for its carillon school where students from all over the world come to learn to play church bells.

Mechelen has no less than 336 listed buildings and monuments including eight gothic and baroque churches from the 14th up to and including the 17th century. It was for a time the most important town in the Low Countries and has remained the religious headquarters of Belgium to this day.

It is one of those off the beaten cities, not well-known by tourist. It hosts the largest co-operative vegetable auction in Europe it happens when 2500 Mechelen region market gardeners gather to sell their vegetables.

The shopping streets are all within walking distance of the Main Square. It is an attractive green city with little traffic, which makes this typical Flemish town perfect for shopping. The most popular shopping streets are Bruul and IJzerenleen.

The Grote Market the Market Square in the centre of Mechelen hosts a three-day Christmas market every December. There are carol concerts in the evening, while stalls sell special Christmas foods, records, books, clothes and antiques

The St. Rumbold's tower is the landmark of the city. You can see this huge tower from far away. The tower has a height of 97 metres and you can reach the top after climbing over 500 steps. The tower was supposed to be 160 metres high but was never finished as Mechelen had financial problems in the 16th century and contains a 49-bell carillon. It can only be climb in the spring or summer.

The Horlogerie Museum Watch Museum is a fascinating private collection of over 1,000 antique timepieces, housed in an old 16th century town house. There are pocket watches, grandfather clocks, mantelpiece clocks, carriage clocks, ornamental clocks and even sundials and hourglasses. As the museum is very small it can only be viewed with the owners.

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