Holy Cross College with the vanished monastery and chapel

The Holy Cross College (now Leonardo College) was built in 1949 by the Crusader Fathers. There was also a chapel and a monastery on Collegestraat, but they have since been demolished. Did you know that the monastery once served as a retirement home for retired fathers from all over Flanders?

In 1962, a camel came to Mater Dei. (In the photo, you can see Erwin Heylens, author of the book The Disappeared Denderleeuw, as a child sitting on the camel). In those days, it was customary for a photographer with a camel to travel from school to school to take pictures. One of the sponsors was Soubry macaroni, hence the cloth hanging on the camel's back. Their advertisement appeared on every school photo this way. Later, the camel was replaced by a pony and the photos were already in color, instead of in "50 shades of grey".

Toerisme Denderleeuw