Archbishop’s garden now open to the public in Mechelen
The immense garden behind the Palace of the Archbishop in Mechelen is in the process of being restored, and it opened to the public at the weekend
‘Rest, silence and simplicity’
While the archbishop lives in the palace on Wollemarkt, just a few minutes from the city's main square, the property is managed by Antwerp province. The province invested €7.5 million on the recent renovation of the palace and the garden, while the city of Mechelen contributed nearly €400,000.
During the opening day, archbishop Jozef De Kesel assured the public that they are welcome, as the garden is much too big for him alone. “In our sometimes very hectic world, many people crave a bit of rest, silence and simplicity,” he said. “You can find all of that in the palace garden.”
The garden has never before been open to the public. “Allowing access to the garden is a nice example of how taking care of heritage isn’t just about protecting the past but also about general wellness,” said Luk Lemmens, the Mechelen city councillor charged with heritage preservation.
Ha-ha wall
The completed works include a restoration of the palace’s west wing and an outer building, as well as the garden walls and storage buildings, the grotto and the prayer pavilion. Future works will include a renovation of the palace’s other wings and in fact a newly developed garden.
The plan is to bring back the historical layout of the garden that once stood behind the palace. A stream once split the garden in two, but it was filled in in the early part of the 20th century. The province had hoped to bring it back, but sewer infrastructure and the presence of ancient trees render that task impossible.
So a ha-ha wall is planned where the stream once ran. A ha-ha design puts a wall in a recessed area, creating a kind of dry moat between two spaces. This will separate the private and public parts of the garden while still allowing a view from both sides.
“This project fits perfectly with our overall plan for parks in the city,” said Mechelen mayor Bart Somers. “Over the last few years, we have created nine new parks and gardens, and we have more planned for the future as well as plans to expand existing ones. These serve as ‘green lungs’ of densely populated urban areas, offering places to relax, play or catch your breath, literally and figuratively. Mechelen is an example to other Flemish cities when it comes to carving out green space in the urban landscape.”
