The Faljuintjes Cycle Route 50.6 km

The Faljuintjes cycle route with departure from Dendermonde direction knoopunt 94 -32-37-43-39-40-41-44-45-47-46-38-36-34-37-28-29-29-30-31-32-94

Beware a small road diversion along the Dender in Aalst !

Brief history of... Text : Discover here the local news from the Faluintjes.

Baardegem - Herdersem - Meldert- Moorsel - The abbey of Affligem-

The Faluintjes

Although the four Faluintjes municipalities of Baardegem, Herdersem, Meldert and Moorsel are often described as being the Faluintjes or the Faluintjes region, the area that includes the classic Faluintjes must be described much more narrowly. This name only applies to a small strip around the Molenbeek between Meldert pond and the former mill on the hamlet of Wavre in Moorsel. Strictly speaking, only the part south of the Molenbeek is worthy of the name Faluintjes. Thus, the Faluintjes are only located on the territory of the municipality of Meldert.

Dom Beda Regaus describes the Faluintjes as: "... 5 bunders meersch ende 1 dagwand genaemt de fallanten, pro quibus nota. The Fallants begin behind the watermill of Meldert that the wooden bridge is to go naer Baerdeghem, and the runs up to the watermill of Morcele, daer Meldert shit of Morcele, and are divided into the fallantes, the supreme, the welcken naer the mill of Meldert, is the emptiest after the mill of Morcele, and the middle. d'first mentie of the Fallants vinde ick maer 1377, ende 1458 in den register kelderije staet: den middelsten fallant ontrent 12D. large, ende weerom: den voorsten fallant ontrent 12D. groot, so soude die twee only 6 B. wesen. Perhaps then 2 fallantes would have been distinguished. (...) invenio ut minus de fallanten simul 13 B. 1D. 41 R. anno 1417 invenio scriptum de falloerden ...".
The three-part classification and the typical area of the mansus support the fact that the Fallants belong to the oldest core of Meldert, claims J. Verbesselt.

On the figurative map of Meldert from 1727, the area of the area described as the Faluintjes is 24 bunders. One half was pasture and the other forest and the latter on the separation with Moorsel. In general, it can be said that this is a very soggy area; a fact that is noticeable to this day. The stream deposits in this area cover a strip of almost 400 meters, which is about five times the Molenbeek deposits upstream and downstream of the area under consideration. This wet strip was and is inferior land for agricultural purposes. However, with appropriate drainage, it could be used as ground land. J. Verbesselt mentions that this area, adjacent to the abbey Affligem, was of great importance for the cattle of the abbey at the time.

The Faluintjes have known various names throughout history: falloerden (1417), fallanten (1458), falaën, fauluynten (1727), fallontjens (1779), faillanten (1821) and falaentenbosch and -meersch. Especially the name falloerden seems very meaningful because this Middle Dutch word means "branch forests". Branch forests are wood bushes that are usually composed of willow and ash wood. Given the marshy biotope, it is quite possible that the former vegetation consisted of shrubs, grasses and willows. Willows are ideal for the manufacture of branches that were usually used for heating purposes and such vegetation is also referred to by the term branch forests. Another possible application of branch forests is that some see the fact that these wood bushes could be placed in the water so that the swampy area became more accessible by creating fords. As already mentioned, this hypothesis fits well with the geographical characteristics of this area, as well as with the name falaën, which stands for a swampy and deserted area. An alternative explanation can be sought in the fact that branch forests lend themselves well to the manufacture of toe baskets. Since Affligem Abbey already mined the Meldertse sandstones in the 12th century, it is not unthinkable that such baskets were used to remove the overlying soil layers for which the material came from the branches forests or phallic trees.

Yet another explanation can be sought in the French word falun which is defined in geology as a shell bank in both current and fossil deposits. In view of the rich shell fauna that occurs in the Meldertse subsoil, this name is very appropriate. It is also widely known to fossil hunters that the old Meldertse sand quarries, from which Ledian and Balegem stone was mined, contain a rare wealth of fossils compared to other quarries in the area that cut the same layers. The only objection to this explanation is the absence of these layers in the area traditionally described as the Faluins. The aforementioned shell-rich layers do occur on the hills that surround the Faluintjes, such as near the abbey Affligem and in the Putstraat in Meldert, but they have been washed away in the valley of the Molenbeek during the geological history.

From the foregoing, it appears that the name statement of the Faluintjes allows for a lot of possibilities. Nevertheless, this area was described early on as the marshy strip on the Molenbeek and the Geerbeek that at the time formed the border between Flanders and Brabant. It is only during the last decades that the Faluins were given a wider geographical significance. In view of the foregoing, it seems desirable to use the term Faluintjes only when referring to the original area and to refer to the Faluintjes region when referring to the four municipalities concerned.