19/06/2022

Antwerp South, berchem area, crossroads of motorways, where can I find greenery in a city? This GPS route leads you past 14 parks and parks with additional city vegetable gardens and other green-tinted elements along and on the road. The route receives a score of 63% unpaved paths. Parking is possible in the Vogelzanglaan, Antwerp (GPS house number 9) double parking on the central reservation or if you make a weekend there is also a camper parking (115 mobile homes). A list of the parks : Nightingale Park with Birdsong (family park); Den Brandt (castle park with war museum) and Middelheim (pay attention Middelheim is an open air museum for sculpture and is only open every day at 10 am, free admission); Green zone Craeybeckxtunnel (walking above the E19), Leeuwerikpark (playground park created in consultation with local residents in 2021); Brilschanspark (formerly defensive work or redoubt in V-shape, called lunet (French for glasses). There were plans to build a town hall but abandoned and in 1963 it was decided to turn it into a park); Park Brialmont (project with the surrounding parks with collaboration of Natuurpunt to build an educational center by 2025); Wolvenbergpark (project for collecting filtered rainwater collected from the roads in case of rain to avoid flooding); Villegaspark (playground park); Koning Albertpark (together with surrounding parks already described in deeds of 1227 under the name Papenmoer, a wet area with many streams, around 1479 partly used as a gallows field and from 1750 transformed into a walking place with lanes, the current trambed); Harmoniepark (landscape park with monument in honor of Peter Benoit, musician), Garden Provincial House (parking was made underground to create more greenery with fountain and artwork); Domain Hertogepark (a not too large park but with some champion trees around the perimeter); Mastvest (V-shaped branch work with two bridges built in 1930 with the World Exhibition in Antwerp). The route passes three urban vegetable gardens (out of more than 10 in the area) and there is also a lot of greenery in the streetscape: small beds, wall vegetation and even streets with open concrete tiles where grass can grow. Work is being done to increase the green stock in this environment. Extra information regarding the opening hour (at 10 am) of Middelheimpark that is after 4 km on the route, those who want to leave early can do them the other way around then you arrive at the park after 12 km or follow the contours of the park, once right and then left and you end up on the route again.