Mechelen, Flanders, Belgium
My second stop of what turned out to be another
excruciatingly hot day in the mid-90s Fahrenheit was Mechelen, a historic city
of about 80,000 population halfway between Antwerp and Brussels. That means it’s
only about 15 miles from each one, and although my three train rides on the
triangle between Antwerp, Lier, and Mechelen together cost only ten Euros, I
have to keep in mind that I only traveled about 35 miles in total. Distances is
Belgium are conveniently short!
I was curious about Mechelen. Over the years when I’ve heard
it mentioned it’s usually been related to two regional agricultural specialties
– asparagus and Belgian endive. I saw no evidence of either in Mechelen,
though.
Mechelen’s other claim to fame is its multiple churches in
the Brabantine Gothic style, the most important of which is Sint-Rombouts
Cathedral, fampus for having the most massive cathedral tower in Belgium. Although the top of the spire on Antwerp’s
cathedral is higher, it’s a rather skinny tower and isn’t currently open to the
public.
Sint Rombouts is a different story, almost like a building, and big
enough to have separate stairways up and down, which would be very useful for
crowd control if there were any crowds.
The 538 steps to the top don’t seem to be that popular an excursion on a
95* day, though. I encountered only about 10 people in the tower.
I’ve sometimes wondered how they got heavy objects like bells
up into those medieval church towers. I don’t quite understand the engineering
of hoisting systems, but in Sint Rombouts they did it with people power in an
oversized treadmill about a third of the way up, like a giant human hamster
wheel. I’m sure that was some pretty sweaty work! The views from the top of the
tower are quite stunning. It’s possible to see both the Atomium on the north
side of Brussels in one direction and the spire of Antwerp’s cathedral as well
as other tall buildings in the other.
Mechelen seems mostly interesting for its churches, several
of which besides the cathedral being quite artistically impressive. Otherwise
there’s not much to do in town, but I thought the Grote Markt was quite nice
and also enjoyed Het Anker brewery, producer of the local Golden Carolus beers,
very refreshing for a stop in the brewery’s pub. Het Anker is one of Belgium’s oldest
breweries still in operation and stands beside the town’s Begijnhof. In the
brewery’s early days the beguines were involved in brewing, showing that in
Belgium drinking and making beer isn’t just a men’s activity.
2025-05-22