Hiking trail Hunnegem - 950 years Geraardsbergen

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This walk is based on a poor quality GPS track, without waypoints or accompanying information, which we found on wandelroutes.org. Due to the festivities around the 950th anniversary of Grammont, we came together, documented and personally walked the road on a rainy Sunday on March 4, 2018. We didn't encounter any problems along the way.

During this walk we visit the cradle of the city of Grammont, especially the district of Hunnegem. This oldest residential area developed on the left bank of the Dender around the still existing priory of Hunnegem with the OLV van Hunnegemkerk. In their new book (January 2018) "Hunnegem the beating heart of Grammont", Koenraad De Wolf and David Larmuseau rewrite the history of Hunnegem on the basis of nine hypotheses. One of these hypotheses is that Hunnegem is probably a prehistoric place of worship where a first Romanesque church was built as early as 1050 under the direction of the monks of St. Peter's Abbey in Dikkelvenne. 950 years ago, in 1068, the Count of Flanders Baldwin VI decided to build a city there. St. Adrian's Abbey took over the role of spiritual center from 1096, but Hunnegem remains a popular Marian pilgrimage site.

Throughout 2018 is also dedicated to the 950th anniversary of the city of Grammont, with special attention to Hunnegem. In spring 2018, a new museum will also open its doors on the site of the former priory, where artistic treasures of the 1,000-year-old district will be exhibited.

THE WALKING ROUTE ITSELF:
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So we start at the bottom of the Markt van Geraardsbergen and turn right of the Breughel café (In 1533, this building was called "Den Wilden Man", in the Visstraat. A little further, where the Visstraat divides into a left and a right part, we choose the left. At the next intersection, we follow Penitentenstraat on the right, then choose the 1st street on the left (Laverdijstraat). In this way we arrive at the Kaai along the Dender, here we turn left towards the bridge. But if you look across the Dender River, you will certainly notice the impressive white façade of the public secondary school (1883) built in the neoclassical style on the Begijnhofkaai. The beguinage of Grammont was located on this site.

But we follow the Dender upstream to the left and then cross the Grotestraat bridge. We now follow the Grotestraat and immediately cross a cross street, the next Kattestraat) that we ignore. We would like to tell you that here you will find a neo-Gothic wing of the old hospital, from 1890-1908 with the inscriptions "Weezenhuis for girls", "House for old women" and "Weezenhuis for boys" above the entrances. We now pass on the left the impressive neo-Gothic façade of the old hospital (restored in 2013) where the art academy is currently located. Around the corner on the next street on the left is the classical chapel of St. Macharius. We turn the corner and find there, along the Gasthuisstraat, on the pediment above the door of the year 1761. To the left of the chapel, in a garden enclosed by a metal fence, we find the old Marbol: that is, the original fountain from 1475 that was originally located on the Markt and has been replaced by a copy.

We follow the Gasthuisstraat and pass the Campus Geraardsbergen of the ASZ (Aalsters Stedelijk Ziekenhuis). Always straight, crossing successively the Verhaegenlaan and the Pateelstraat. Just before crossing the latter, we recognize on our left, at the corner of the Meersstraat, the main library of Grammont. It is located in the former Sacred Heart Clinic (opened in 1902). Past house number 165, you have access on the right to the social housing estate Brouwershof, which was inaugurated in 2001 by the customer Veilig Wonen. All this on the site of the former Concordia Brewery buildings (demolition 1994). In the central square of the residential area is a bronze statue of the artist Zandberg Antoon Torrekens. It shows husband and wife, with their backs to each other, but soon "under the impulse of the nestifying heat that the neighborhood radiates, kissing and drinking a glass of Concordia on the newfound happiness of life."

However, we continue straight here until we see the impressive pink and red painted buildings of Hunnegem Priory before the right turn. They currently house the Catholic primary school Hunnegem, the non-profit association Leerpunt and the home nursing unit of the Sint-Vincentius Residential and Care Centre. In bygone times, even before the foundation of the town of Grammont (1068), you found here an old residential nucleus that arose around the OLV van Hunnegemkerk that you will see a little further.

Hunnegem Priory was founded in 1624 by the English noblewoman Anne Scudamore (1584-1634). This is how the Romanesque church came into the possession of the Benedictine sisters of Arras (Arras). The priory was dissolved in 1794, following the French Revolution. In 1816, the priory was re-established with the help of the Benedictines of Ghislenghien (Gellingen). The monastery complex and the Romanesque church are still important sights of Hunnegem. The murals of Bert-De l'Arbre in the church and the pax room are neo-Gothic pearls. At the beginning of 2009, the last two Benedictines left the Priory of Hunnegem for good. A new museum is under construction here.

The exact history of the construction of the OLV van Hunnegemkerk is unknown. Presumably, there was already a small church at the beginning of the 8th century. The original Romanesque hall church received an elongated nave and a pointed Gothic turret in the 13th and 14th centuries. Since the 14th century, the church has enjoyed fame as a place of pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady. At the end of the 16th century, the church suffered from the Wars of Religion. The Benedictine sisters of Arras demolished the tower and transept in 1624; The nave at the back was transformed into a choir of the religious and a new portal was installed in the longitudinal façade (northwest). Further adjustments followed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Restoration directed by Ph. Van der Putten in 1964.

In the right turn is house number 2 (next to a cobbled street). This detached house has two bays and three floors under a gabled roof (slates, ridge perpendicular to the street). The corner building probably dates from the late 19th - early 20th century. It is said that the building served as the residence of the former priest and later the director of the nearby priory of Hunnegem. The building was sold in 2010 to the CPAS of Grammont.

We turn right into the bend and after about 80m pass again, at house number 23, an entrance to the Brouwershof. We arrive at a T-junction and turn right. Just after the corner house, you have another crossing to the social housing estate on the right. We choose a little further, after house number 117, but for a junction on the left (Goedevrouwestraat). He makes a straight turn to the right. On the left, you can see some SNCB buildings and a dead-end railway. A little further, you will arrive after a few steps left on the square of the station of Grammont. The current station building was designed in the period 1944-1946 and was a state-of-the-art station at that time. Although construction had already been completed in 1944, the building was not inaugurated until 1946. In 1998, the tunnel leading to the tracks was extended to the papiermolenstraat.

Past the corner house in front of the station, we turn right and then take the 1st street on the left. This Adamstraat connects the Stationsplein with the Oudenaardsestraat. It was straightened and enlarged in 1859. The streetscape is characterized by terraced houses with different façade widths and two to three storeys mainly under gabled roof, from the second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20th century. Alternatively, you can see plastered and painted facades white, cemented and brick. Several houses here (including numbers 12, 22, 24, 25, 28 and 37) were established as architectural heritage in 2009. On the right, at house number 28, we find the Protestanse Kerk De Brug. We walk to the end of the street and turn left at the T-junction. We cross the railway bridge, pass a street at right angles and choose a path of about 50m before the red lights that run diagonally to the right (the corner house on the left is Café Bij Monique and Vic, 2017) between the houses.

A little further, arrive at the Astridlaan, a busy road. We cross extremely carefully and continue to follow the Deftingseweg, a paved path, for a distance of about 500m. We are here in the territory of Nederboelare, and after the town we sniff a little more rural air. On the way we see on the left a large agricultural complex that is listed as Himpex horse trade. We arrive at an acute angle from the left at the Felicien Cauwelstraat. We turn left and immediately pass the arched driveway to the farm mentioned above. However, we go straight ahead and swap a paved road for a narrower concrete track. We continue straight ahead (there are no secondary roads) to a T-junction and turn right towards the football club KSV Geraardsbergen (Molendreef 36). After the club, the road turns right and we then choose the next dirt road on the right. After 300m we cross the Groendreef and a little further we come across some very old pollard willows on the right with thick branches particularly curved downwards. A little further, we cross a stream and then quickly return to the Astridlaan. We turn right and soon see on the right the church of St. Macharius of Nederboelare. A recent church consecrated in 1972. Until 1798, the chapel of Boelare Castle still functioned as a parish church.

At the intersection, the cross of the Astridlaan and the Felicien Cauwelstraat continue to the left. At the small roundabout we turn left into the Reepstraat. In the dialect of Grammontsberg also called "de Rieëp" or "on't Olleken". On a bridge under the railway tracks, we turn left, along the railway tracks, into the Spoorwegstraat. We follow it until we reach a wide 4-lane road (Zonnebloemstraat) and turn right under the railway bridge. On the other side of the Zonnebloemstraat, in the extension of the Gentsestraat is the monument of a martyr of the Second World War, namely Félicien Cauwel, who gave his name to the eponymous street that we crossed earlier. We then cross the Gentsestraat and cross the Zonnebloembrug 300m further. Past a roundabout, we choose a narrow path at the zebra passage on the right with a hedge on the left and a lawn (with bench) on the right. We pass a tennis court on the left and pass in front of a shed of a Ford garage we take the 1st alley on the right. 40m further on, we arrive at the Weverijstraat and turn left. Another 30m further, we turn right towards the junction towards the Frans Renswijk, also called 'De Hofkes'. In the 2nd half of the thirties, the social housing company Regional Construction Company of Grammont built a small garden district (hence the popular name "De Hofkes") designed by the Brussels architect James Allard.

We walk to the Dender and follow it to the left (Zakkaai). In the 1st street on the left (Sint-Annastraat), we see on the right, on the other side of the Dendre, successively the Carmelite monastery (ochre façade) and the Sint-Jozefkerk (red brick) that accompanies it. The Carmelite monastery, today Jozefietencollege (St. Jozef Technical Institute aka TISJ), stands on the site of the former castle ter Gracht (15th century); The latter was part of the defensive belt of the city (foundations probably from the 12th century). The present church was built in 1717 and consecrated in 1729. The façade was rebuilt in 1889. We walk further along the Dender to the Wijngaardbrug. Here we turn left into the Denderstraat, choose the next street on the right (Penitentenstraat), then the 1st ascending street on the left (Nieuwstraat). Here again, many houses have been established as architectural heritage; A small selection of them are house numbers 52, 45, 44, 41 and 10. Just before no. 10, we leave Kleine Nieuwstraat on the right and continue until we reach the intersection with Vredestraat, where we turn right. We pass another junction on the right towards Kleine Nieuwstraat, then return to our starting point at the Markt.

Here you can certainly explore other Grammont classics even further: town hall (original 14th century), Manneke Pis (1455-56, older than that of Brussels), Gothic fountain De Marbol (already mentioned in 1392-93), St. Bartholomew's Church, etc. The drinking and catering facilities certainly also offer reinforcement to the inner man. You should definitely also taste the famous Geraardsbergse Mattentaarten; They are recognized as a regional product.

If you have been following the walk, I would like to hear from you. You can post all comments via the "Comments" button with the bubble at the top right of the route details.