The best cycling routes around Huldenberg

Two important lordships formed the basis of the current Hoeilaart: the lordship of Ter Heyde south of the IJse on the one hand, and the lordship of Holaer or Hoeilaart north of the IJse on the other. Here once stood the castle of the Ter Heyde lordship from the fifteenth century. That lordship ceased to exist after the abolition of the ancien régime. The current castle was built in 1858 on the orders of baron Jean de Man d’Attenrode (mayor of Hoeilaart from 1854-1878) and his wife Maria Carolina d’Ormesson. It is therefore not a remnant of the old lordship. BUT: the chapel and former closed farm next to it are. This building has now, as others have mentioned, been given a different function and dominates the view in the park. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Kasteel van Hoeilaart, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/39785

The neo-Romanesque parish church, situated on a slight elevation, was built between 1870 and 1874 according to a design by the Limburg architect Herman Jaminé. The originally surrounding graveyard, no longer in use since 1888-1889, was cleared in the early 20th century; the last graveyard walls disappeared during the First World War when the Gemeenteplein was leveled. The cemetery was moved to the Molenberg on the Jezus-Eiksesteenweg. The tower is flanked by a baptistery to the north and, to the south, by the Ruusbroeckapel, established in 1951, currently converted into a weekly chapel. The whole is constructed from brick, alternating with regular bands of sandstone under slate saddle or lean-to roofs; in stark contrast to the rest of the church, the choir apse is entirely constructed from sandstone. The latter material (both white and pink) was also used for the substructure, some frames, and decorative accents, including the cornerstones. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Parish Church Saint-Clemens, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/39784

There was already a lordship of IJse. The lords belonged to the Isque family and were vassals of the Duke of Brabant. However, this family died out in the male line, and the last heiress, Maria d'Oisy, sold the lordship in 1335 to Johan I van Wittem of the van Wittem family. From 1410 to 1456, Hendrik II van Wittem lived, who married Jacoba van Glymes. Their son was Hendrik III van Wittem (1440-1515) (also Van Wittem van Beersel or Van Witthem van Beersel). He built the castle after the village of Overijse was burned down in 1489 by the troops of Maximilian of Austria. He married Elisabeth van der Spout. Their son and successor was Filips van Wittem van Beersel (1471-1523). She married Johanna van Halewijn and their son Hendrik IV van Wittem (1495-1554) became lord of Beersel, while their son Georges van Wittem (1500-1544) became lord of IJse.

You hear the water bubbling...

beautiful view of the turning wheel of the mill from the bridge

Huldenberg Castle is nestled between wooded hills and rolling meadows in the picturesque Dijle Valley. Although it is privately owned and not open to visitors, the stately building with its towers and surrounding park forms a beautiful backdrop along your route. Enjoy the peaceful view and the charming atmosphere of the historic landscape here.

Duke Charles III de Croy (1560-1612) had the Arenberg Castle moated, the park laid out and the avenue to Leuven extended at the end of the 16th century. A memorial stone was built into the right side wall of the Cantine to commemorate the construction of the avenue to Leuven in 1596. In the 18th century, when the castle and the park were owned by the Arenberg family, the entire domain was enclosed by a wall. The moat around the castle was also filled in. This resulted in a significant change to the terrain, which was originally very marshy. Nevertheless, the structure that Charles III de Croy gave to the landscape around 1600 is still clearly recognisable. The whole of gardens, orchards and outbuildings was then arranged around two main axes, which corresponded to the axes of the castle: an (approximately) north-south avenue, from the Terbank leper colony to the Meerdaal forest that served the Croys as a private hunting domain, and an east-west avenue, which extended from the Celestine Priory, the Croys' family mausoleum, past the new stable buildings to the entrance gate right on the city walls, opposite the Namur Gate. The construction of these straight avenues, bordered by palisades, for kilometres long, had forced the Duke to purchase important land and then to carry out major earthworks: hills were dug away – such as the hill on which the old Romanesque Saint-Lambert church stood, which was desecrated as a result – and holes and pits were filled in. Duke Charles Marie Raymond of Arenberg had a ‘jardin anglois’ built in 1771 to his own design, with the Yellow House as the focal point of the picturesque garden, a pavilion on a hill to the southeast of the castle, and with many remarkable exotic tree species such as a Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libanii) that was brought over from Edingen. The historical value of the Arenberg Park is formed by the connection with the Arenberg Castle and the other buildings located there. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Arenberg Park, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/302524

across the lawn you can see the castle of Arenberg Leuven