The best traffic-free bike rides around Alken

Dying night in the dawn

Rust en picknickplaats langs de Grotestraat

The castle of the lords of Kozen is located on the spot where three municipalities meet: Kozen, Wijer and Stevoort. Strictly speaking, the castle is on the territory of Wijer, the farm is in Kozen and the barn in Stevoort. Previously, avenues connected the castle site with these three villages. The oldest known lords of Kozen belong to the van Wesemael family, who lived in the fourteenth century. Around 1400, the lordship and the castle belonged to the de Diest family, and in the seventeenth century, the de Kerckhem family ruled here. Above one of the gates, a stone can be seen, on which the family coat of arms is shown twice. It dates from the time when Arnold de Kerckhem and his wife Annemarie de Kerckhem, who was also his niece, lived here. Still in the seventeenth century, the castle belonged for a time to the land commander of Alden Biesen. From 1699, the van Afferden family acquired the domain. They are the last lords of Kozen. At the end of the nineteenth century, the castle was owned by a certain Jacquelart. He rebuilt the castle and gave it its current appearance.

The cycle path between Wintershoven and Vliermaal lies on the route of the former tram line 496, which ran between Tongeren and Kortessem. The tram line departed from the station in Tongeren and ran via Henis, Riksingen, Sint-Huibrechts-Hern, Schalkhoven, Vliermaal and Wintershoven to the tram station in Kortessem. In Kortessem, line 496 connected to the larger line 495 (Hasselt - Oreye). This allowed travellers and agricultural products (such as sugar beets for the sugar refineries) to easily transfer towards Hasselt or Liège.

Tongeren is the oldest city in Belgium. The city originates from a camp founded by Sabinus and Cotta, lieutenants of Julius Caesar, whose legions were massacred in 54 BC near Ambiorix, the leader of the Eburones. Sights include the basilica, the beguinage, the statue of Ambiorix, and the antique market that takes place every Sunday.

As early as the 7th century, a wood-and-clay church is said to have stood here. The following saints are said to be buried there: Lambertus, Landoaldus, Amantius, Vinciana, and Landrada. These were followers of Saint Amandus, who is also supposedly buried there. In the second half of the 8th century, the relics of these saints were supposedly elevated to the altar. The saints are known as the Saints of Wintershoven. Around 1200, a single-nave Romanesque church was built of natural stone (coal sandstone, iron sandstone, flint, blue limestone, and the like). Fragments of Roman roof tiles were also incorporated into the church. Many of these building materials likely came from a nearby Roman villa. The building had a single nave, comprised four bays, and had an integrated west tower. The west facade, the two side walls, and the foundations of the choir of this building have been preserved. At the front of the south facade stood a small round-arched doorway, now bricked up, the Paradise Gate, which, in addition to the churchyard, also provided access to the presbytery. Excavations were carried out in the church from 1967 to 1968. Several graves, burial vaults, and three postholes from the original wooden church were uncovered, but no trace of the Saints of Wintershoven was found.

Nice walking path, quiet area

With luck, spot a deer?!