An urban leprosy house in the Bruidstraat

Already before 1281 there was a lazarij for the lepers in Diest, located outside the city walls on the 'den berch van der Lazarien', the current Lazarijberg. When this shop was destroyed in 1578 by the troops of Orange, only two lepers were still present. The welding plant was never rebuilt. The lepers no longer wanted to live there and from 1650 lived in the city, in a house in the Bruidstraat (Baruytstraat).

That house was also owned by the Grey Sisters. They received monetary compensation to support themselves. In 1605 the last leper to stay there died. In 1606, at the request of the archbishop of Mechelen and despite the protests of the city council, a ten-year-old leper boy was accepted. This boy had come with the Spanish garrison. In 1698 leprosy ceased to be endemic. However, the institution still existed and was used for the care of orphans.

Jan Rymenams