Mechelen (English traditionally Mechlin, French Malines, German Mecheln) is a municipality located in Belgium, Flemishregion, province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper and the villages of Heffen, Hombeek, Leest, Muizen and Walem. On January 1st, 2004 Mechelen had a total population of 76,981 (37,465 males and 39,516 females). The total area is 65.19 km² which gives a population density of 1,180.91 inhabitants per km².
History
The area of Mechelen was first settled on the banks of the river Dijle during the Gallo-Roman period as evidenced by several Roman ruins and roads. The settlement declined during the 3rd-4th century and the area became inhabited by paganGermanic tribes, who were converted to Christianity by the Irish missionary St Rombold, (Rombout in Dutch), who also built a monastery.
The highly lucrative cloth trade gained Mechelen wealth and power during the late middle-ages and it even became the capital of the Netherlands in the first half of the 16th century under Margaret of Austria's reign.
The city entered the industrial age in the 19th century, becoming the hub of the Belgian railway network, with the first train linking Brussels with Mechelen in 1835. This led to a development of metalworking industries, among others the central railway workshops which are still located in the town today. Another traditional Mechelen industry was furniture making. The area around Mechelen is famous for the culture of vegetables, among which asparagus and cauliflower. The Mechelse koekoek is a local poultry breed, fleshy chickens with black and white feathers which extend on the bird's legs, with colours reminescent of a cuckoo, hence the name.
Mechelen is home of two of the oldest Belgian football clubs: Racing Mechelen and K.V. Mechelen, both founded in 1904 and now playing in Belgium's third division.
Places of interest
The St. Rombolds Cathedral
The Brusselpoort, last remaining of the city's twelve gates.
The Jewish Museum of Deportation and the Resistance
The animal park Planckendael in Muizen
External links
Official website (http://www.mechelen.be) - Only available in Dutch
MALINES (Flemish, Mechelen, called in the middle ages by the Latin name Mechlinia, whence the spelling Mechlin), an ancient and important city of Belgium, and the seat since 1559 of the only archbishopric in that country.
The chief importance of Malines is derived from the fact that it is in a sense the religious capital of Belgium - the archbishop being the primate of the Catholic Church in that country.
Malines, although no longer famous for its lace, carries on a large trade in linen, needles, furniture and oil, while as a junction for the.
But the chief object of the Belgian advance was to co-operate from the north with the advance of the Allied armies from the south and to relieve the pressure of the German attack and to divert from the main German army at least two, and perhaps three, army corps.
Malines, which in the morning we had found full of animation, by five o'clock in the afternoon had become a melancholy desert.
Feeds |
Contact