The Grote Markt in Lier is currently undergoing a big makeover to accommodate the celebrations for the town’s 800th anniversary in 2012; but don’t let that stop you from visiting the town, just a few kilometres south-east of Antwerp.
For a city with a mere 33,000 inhabitants, Lier is densely packed with shops, cafés, history and parks, all bundled into a highly enjoyable package. The highlights are conveniently located within strolling distance of each other. A river runs through, making Lier a lovely place to live in and a favourite destination for small groups of friends looking for a chill-out weekend in a cosy setting.
Most noticeable in Lier is the water. Rivers surround the city like a moat, one stretch cutting right through the middle of town. Paths run along the two rivers Grote Nete and Kleine Nete, making for great cycling, while the former city walls have been revamped to create a five km circular park, De Vest, sporting yet another well-used walking and cycling path.
A great spot to take a breather is the former lock house, Het Spuihuisje. Spanning a bridge, you’re invited to ride or walk through to get to the other side. A bit further up is a large wilderness area on the site of a former gasworks. To find such an expanse of forests and ponds, with exotic birds such as wading herons, within city walls in Flanders is unusual and fantastic. Unfortunately, the area is going be the site of a new car park in the near future, as Lier is planning to expand its innercity pedestrian zone.
From the Spuihuisje, it is a hop and a skip to a more traditional beauty and history spot: the Aragon Bridge. Philip the Handsome had arranged to meet his future wife, Joanna of Castile and Aragon, here for the first time in 1496. They were supposed to get married the next day, in the process pairing Spain with the Low Countries. But the moment they laid eyes on each other, they couldn’t wait and got married on the spot by a passing priest. In the meantime, crowds had gathered on the adjacent wooden bridge to catch a glimpse of the royal couple, leading to the inevitable: The bridge collapsed, and the onlookers tumbled into the river.
Broken limbs have been nurtured for centuries in the church of Lier’s patron saint Gummarus, who became known for healing everything broken, even marriages. He is said to have tied his belt around the two halves of a felled tree, restoring it to life. To this day, local tradition dictates that every year around 11 October, a priest places the Saint Gummarus belt on the shoulders of pilgrims in need of repair.
The church, nicknamed De Pepperpot, would be a rather gloomy place, if it weren’t for its colourful and ancient stained glass windows. Outside, a series of odd looking gargoyle-like figures envelop the façade and look you straight in the eye. On Sundays, you can join a city tour and climb the tower, past its clockwork and bells, on your way to a panorama view of the city.
This is the part of town where cobbled streets lead off in every direction, each bringing architectural delights. While the towering gothic Sint- Gummarus church is on one side of the waterway that cuts through town, the Grote Markt, the central square, with its Unesco World Heritage belfry, lies on the other – a beautiful separation of church and state. Lier definitely has more than its fair share of churches, cloisters and monasteries.
But its people are not as ancient as its buildings. You don’t have to go far to find the flourishing nightlife in Lier. Just off the Grote Markt with its many sunny terraces, you find the Eikelstraat, an alleyway lined on both sides with popular cafés and Lier’s second Unesco World Heritage site, the 13th-century begijnhof, at the end. Once a refuge for poor women, it is now a tranquil and pretty maze of cobblestone streets. The enclosed area is only accessible through its gates. The small houses don’t have numbers, but names. There is De Gestolen Live Vrouw, the stolen, sweet woman, or De Engelbewaarder, the guardian angel, who lives next door to Saint Alice and the Four Evangelists.
Next door to the begijnhof you can embark on a leisurely 40-minute boat trip up and down the river in former eel-fishing barges. Or you can cross the river once more and visit the Timmermans-Opsomerhouse Museum where you’ll find out more about Lier’s famous inhabitants.
Most notable is Felix Timmermans, a prolific 20th-century writerpainter. He is best known for creating the character Pallieter (1916), an epicurean hero, who seized the day in every way he could. The people of Lier have adopted his catch phrase “Lierke Plezierke”, which is not easily translatable but essentially suggests the people of Lier know how to have a good time.
And what a surprise to come eye to eye with a genuine Breughel. Most works of Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Breughel the Elder have ended up in Vienna, but the city museum Wuyts-Van Campen & Baron Caroly has managed to hang on to “De Verkeerde Wereld”, which Breughel painted in 1559 and depicts 16th-century rural life in 70 “Flemish Proverbs” (the English title of the painting). It doesn’t matter how many cookie jars you’ve seen with Breughel’s work on them, it is still a thrill to see the real thing.
Another world-famous artist on display here whose work you’ve undoubtedly seen, even if you might not have heard his name, is ornamental blacksmith Louis van Boeckel. He forged the gate that surrounds the White House in Washington.
A third museum that might tickle your fancy is De Kleine Wereld, The Small World, a doll museum, assembled by a mother and daughter, which showcases doll houses, once status symbols for the bourgeoisie. The Academy of Fine Arts in Lier, meanwhile, still teaches the traditional art of lace making.
According to legend, the city of Lier was once given the opportunity by John II, Duke of Brabant, to choose between a city university or a cattle market. Guess what the 13th-century Lierenaars chose? Schapenkoppen has remained the nickname for the inhabitants ever since – sheep heads.
Jane Bull, a relatively new schapenkop, sums up Lier pretty accurately: “On weekends, Lier is a lovely city to walk around in. I think people like it because it is something of a ‘mini-Bruges’ but still largely undiscovered by tourists.”
Breughel could have painted a 71st proverb: Have your Lierse pie and eat it, too.
•De Begijnhof, a Unesco-recognised, 13th-century, inner-city courtyard, where houses
have names, not numbers
•De Grote Markt, the town’s central square, with its Unesco-recognised belfry
•Breughel painting “De Verkeerde Wereld” at the city museum
•Church of Sint-Gummarus, with a tower offering a panorama view of the city
•Academy of Fine Arts, where they teach the traditional art of lace making
The local beer Caves
On weekends. Talk to the tourist office
about their bike rental options or take a
boat ride. There is a food market every
Saturday.
Liers Vlaaike: local herbal cup cake
Hoppas: goodies to go with a local beer
Kak van Maria: candy apple
Bier pallet: a selection of three local beers
Flanders Today is a 
11°C / 26°C
