The three-aisled cathedral

For author Felix Timmermans, the city walls of Lier were not just an ordinary walking route, but a place for reflection and meeting. “He called them his salon and described the walls as a ‘three-nave cathedral’,” Jos recounts. “Here he would gather with friends for a refreshing walk and a philosophical conversation.”

The walls today form a green belt around the center of Lier, but their origins date back to the Middle Ages. They largely follow the path of the second city wall, erected in the first half of the 15th century. This wall served a dual purpose at the time: military, as protection against enemy cannon fire and invasions, and economic, as tolls were collected at the city gates on goods entering or leaving the city. “The walls are characteristic of Lier, but also unique.”

Mediahuis België