The ice cellar

The Hospital of Our Lady with the Rose has preserved its ice cellar, dating from the second half of the 19th century.
Before that, the space was occupied by a cemetery for the poor sick. This cemetery will not be abandoned until 1837 out of concern for hygiene regulations, following a closure decision issued by the city council. In the future, cemeteries would only find a place outside the ramparts.
The ice cellar hides under the mountain of earth that you can see in front of you. The trees and their leaves had the task of shading the ice cellar during the warm summer months. The entrance to the ice cellar is located in the north and a staircase takes us up to 3 meters below the earth layer. The small room below, about 4m² in size, is the actual cold room, equipped to store fresh food (meat, vegetables and dairy products...).
The storage of the ice was done in the adjacent huge cylindrical pit. The brick walls were covered with straw to obtain better insulation. The hole in the bottom served to drain the meltwater.
Some writings indicate the presence of a one and a half meters of ice in the month of August. The monastics also used chunks of ice to prepare compresses or soft drinks for the sick.
The operation was therefore not only very effective but also very environmentally friendly, since cooling was provided naturally with the ice blocks of the nearby Dender.
The museum's ice cellar was still in operation until the end of the First World War.

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