The best cycling routes around Sint-Truiden

The gem of this beguinage is the Saint Agnes Beguinage Church. It was built in three phases between the 13th and 16th centuries. Late Romanesque and early Gothic, it still stands proudly in the middle of the square today.

Beautiful, shady bike path

The castle of the Lords of Kozen stands at the intersection of three municipalities: Kozen, Wijer, and Stevoort. Strictly speaking, the castle is located on the territory of Wijer, the farmstead is in Kozen, and the barn is in Stevoort. The castle site was once connected to these three villages. The oldest known Lords of Kozen belong to the Van Wesemael family, who lived in the fourteenth century. Around 1400, the manor and castle belonged to the De Diest family, and in the seventeenth century, the De Kerckhem family held sway here. Above one of the gates, a stone can be seen depicting the family's coat of arms twice. It dates from the time when Arnold de Kerckhem and his wife, Annemarie de Kerckhem, who was also his cousin, lived here. As late as the seventeenth century, the castle belonged for a time to the Land Commander of Alden Biesen. In 1699, the Van Afferden family acquired the estate. They are the last lords of Kozen. At the end of the nineteenth century, the castle was owned by a certain Jacquelart. He renovated the castle and gave it its current appearance.

Beautiful Chapel, unfortunately the crypt is closed

Ideal stopover

beautiful castle opposite the church of Rijkel

beautiful chapel with a lot of name and fame

Former moated castle. Originally a castle of the Lords of Ordingen; played an important role due to its strategic location on the border of the County of Loon, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Limburg; destroyed during the Battle of Brustem (1467), but rebuilt by W. de Horion during the 16th century. Purchased in 1611 by the Land Commandery Alden Biesen, and converted into a Commandery of the Teutonic Order in 1633; the castle remained in that form until the beginning of the 19th century, when P. de Libotton, who had bought the property after its expropriation during the French occupation, replaced the residence of the order's brothers and the chapel with a castle in late-classicist style; this castle was replaced in the second half of the 19th century by the current neo-Renaissance castle, built by order of H. de Pitteurs Hiegaerts. In its current form a moated complex, on the northern bank of the Melsterbeek, and accessible via a wide avenue; the park was divided into plots and cleared in the course of the sixties. The following parts of the 17th-century commandery have been preserved: the gatehouse with guardhouse, a corner tower, and the commander's house. To the southeast, gatehouse with guardhouse: elongated building of eight bays and two storeys under a slightly curved saddle roof (slate) with dormers, and leaning against the northeast facade, a square tower of one bay and three storeys under a hipped roof (weather vanes, and stepped dormer window on the northeast side); the year 1633 on a facade stone with the coat of arms of commander van Amstenraedt. To the north, commander's house: L-shaped building of two storeys under saddle roofs (slate) with dormers. Brick building with wrought iron wall anchors and the use of limestone for corner bands and frames. Stepped southwestern side wall with a round arched window in the top provided with neg blocks, and later built-in facade stone with the date 1740 and coat of arms of the Teutonic Order. The southwestern wing, probably the stable section, is soberly finished: rectangular wall openings (with loading window on the second floor). Now freestanding, western corner tower: square tower of one bay and three floors under a broken tent roof. To the northeast, neo-Renaissance castle from the second half of the 19th century, almost completely rebuilt after the bombing in 1940. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Kasteel van Ordingen, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/23085