Abbey of Munsterbilzen

Before you lies the remnants of the Abbey of Munsterbilzen, founded in the 7th century by Saint Landrada. What began as a community of nuns later grew into a noble women's convent. The abbess ruled here as a princess and even bore the title Princess of the Holy Roman Empire. Today, you can still see the 18th-century abbess residence designed by architect Couven, the Gothic tower from the 16th century, and the Neo-Gothic parish church. Beneath the ground lie traces of much older churches, including a 7th-century Church of Our Lady.

After devastation by the French in 1793, the site was given a new purpose in the 19th century: the care for mentally ill women and a girls' school.

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