Playground Sint-Arnoldus Park Tiegem

Sint-Arnoldus Park is a pilgrimage park on the Tiegemberg in Tiegem, which belongs to the West Flemish municipality of Anzegem.

The park is a remnant of the former Holdebroek forest, and there is a spring in a carved valley where rare vegetation can be found. There are also special park trees and houses rare birds.

It was Vital Moreels who took the initiative for the construction of the park. For example, in 1866 a neo-Gothic pilgrimage chapel was built, which replaced an earlier chapel built in 1817 at the source as a thank you for a cure. Landscape architect Hubert Van Hulle designed a park around the chapel with artificial caves, bridges, waterfalls and a wooden watchtower, which was replaced around 1900 by the Belvedere, a cement construction that now stands on private property.

All this led to the arrival of pilgrims and tourists. The pilgrimage concerned Saint Arnold van Soissons, the founder of Saint Peter's Abbey in Oudenburg. He was born in Tiegem in 1040, and that attracts pilgrims. Artists also came to live here, such as Staf Stientjes who had the Villa 't Vossenhol built around 1926. In 1937 an open-air theater was built at the well.

The park had many owners and after years of neglect the park became the property of the Redemptorist Fathers in 1962. Work was done on the development of a fully-fledged pilgrimage site and the Sint-Arnoldus Park. A cafeteria and a room for reflection and meetings were also built. The annual motocross of Tiegem held in the Bergweide was no longer allowed. It only benefited the peace in the area.

After the fine work of the fathers, in September 1998 the diocese of Bruges became the owner of the Sint-Arnoldus Park. The daily operation came into the hands of 'Jericho' and was given the name 'Domain Sint-Arnoldus'. Since then, much has changed for the better. The park is mainly intended as a place of pilgrimage in honor of St-Arnoldus, but it is a wonderful place to stay and accessible to everyone. In 2017, the park came under the management of the municipality of Anzegem, who bought it for 1.3 million euros.

In 2022, a 50-year concession was awarded to a project that provides for a new brasserie, banquet hall and B&B.

Willem Vandenameele