St. Anthony Abbot's Church

Little is known about the exact origin of the church. It is generally believed that the church dates largely from the 14th-early 15th centuries. Some repairs were carried out in the course of the 17th century after the devastating Wars of Religion.

Since the late 12th century, Moerbeke was owned by the two powerful Ghent abbeys Sint-Baafs and Sint-Pieters. The latter founded the abbey of Boudelo (6) in Klein-Sinaai, which also cultivated and mined the lands in Moerbeke.

The well-known priest-poet Van Wilderode (7) comes from Moerbeke. At the church there is a literary walking path where 12 of his poems support the landscape.
Bevrijderstraat 9180 Moerbeke

Boudelo Abbey (6)
This region is inextricably linked to the story of the Abbey of Boudelo. In 1197, a hermit from Ghent's St. Peter's Abbey settled in Klein-Sinaai. This hermitage grew into the grand Boudelo Abbey. The abbey cultivated the inhospitable region, planted forests and dug the economic veins of the region: the Moervaart and the Stekene Vaart. During the Wars of Religion, the monks were chased away by the Geuzen and the destroyed abbey served as cheap building material for the inhabitants. The monks eventually built a new abbey in Ghent.

Anton Van Wilderode (7)
Anton Van Wilderode is the pseudonym for Cyriel Paul Coupé. He was born in Moerbeke in 1918 and is a celebrated priest-poet. The common thread throughout his poems is his beloved Waasland and specifically nature at his native village Moerbeke. In 1943 he published his first poem 'Als de mulbeitoppen ruischen'.

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