Historic city centre

From this spot you have a perfect overview of the historic core of the city. You are standing in front of the Vleeshuis, a building where 'lending' is the main activity today. That's how it goes in a public library. Before the French Revolution it was a bit different. Then crafts and guilds sold their merchandise here against hard currency.

You can't look next to the St. Walburga church here either. The 88-meter-high tower dominates the city skyline from miles away. Its construction began in the first half of the 12th century. Of the first early Gothic church only the choir in Tournai limestone remains.

The carillon, which can be heard every Sunday, hung a few hundred meters away until 1894, in the belfry tower of the town hall. The beautiful building in Brabant Gothic dominates the Grote Markt. According to the 19th century French author Victor Hugo, "there is not a single detail in this fantastic building that is not worth seeing". Unesco felt the same way. The organization put the town hall of Oudenaarde on the World Heritage List in 1999.

On top of the belfry tower is the symbol of the city: city guard Hanske the Warrior. Somewhere deep in the 16th century, Hanske fell asleep after drinking too many frizzy Oudenaards beer. That was a bit annoying to say the least because he didn't see Charles V coming. According to legend, the emperor Oudenaarde would therefore have obliged to put glasses in the coat of arms from now on.

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