Past chapels to Ninove

The Dender region is a region in the province of East Flanders. The region takes its name from the 65 kilometer long river Dender that flows into the Scheldt. The Dender meanders through the sometimes slightly sloping green landscape. It is surrounded by low-lying lakes, with alternating natural wetlands and poplar plantations. In the past, the river mainly had an economic function, but now it is mainly used for pleasure yachts. On this route you pass two ancient chapels. The Kapel Bevingen was once a full-fledged parish church that was probably built in the 12th century. The chapel is located on a hill among the green - really a place to relax. The Desert Chapel is located on the Jacobskerkenpad to Santiago de Compstella. Parts of the current structure date from the 14th and 15th centuries, but the current chapel was built in 1600. The name of the chapel has nothing to do with a dry sandy area, but refers to what the area looked like at the time of its construction : like a'washing\\\' or an undeveloped wasteland. As befits an old building, the chapel is still the subject of numerous bizarre stories and legends. Centuries ago, for example, a shepherd would have found a copper crucifix on what was then the Desert Hill. He gave it to the pastor, who took it to the parish church of Gooik. The next day, however, the cross was gone. According to legend, the statue has been on the Desert Hill ever since. Breughel often used the Desert Chapel as a background on his canvases and panels. A little further on you will pass the Cave Chapel, De Grot van Poelk. You enter Ninove along the banks of the Dender. This pleasant provincial town has a rich textile past. The eye-catcher in Ninove is the leaning tower of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ascension Church. The church was once part of the building complex of the Norbertine abbey, the foundations of which can still be admired in the archaeological garden. As soon as you leave Ninove, you enter the Dender valley. In this natural floodplain you cycle through an eye-catching alternation of wooded and open space, of high and low vegetation, of deciduous forests, natural pools and wet grasslands.