Schepenhuis

The Schepenhuis is seen as the first stone town hall in Flanders. In the Middle Ages, this building was used by the alderman's bank to hold meetings. The Schepenhuis dates from the 13th century. Before that, the meetings of the alderman's bank were held in the open air. From 1473 the Schepenhuis was used by the Parliament of Mechelen. In 1616 the parliament, which at that time had been called the Grand Council, moved to the former palace of Margaret of Austria. Later the city academy was housed in the Schepenhuis. It then became a museum, a city archive, a city library and finally it became a museum again in the year 2000.