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Historical and Landscape Heritage

In Herentals you will certainly enjoy yourself as a hiking enthusiast. This walking route combines two walks along the most beautiful spots in the historic city and through the varied landscape of the higher Kempense Heuvelrug and the valley of the Kleine Nete.

fortified city

Herentals experienced its historical peak in the fourteenth century with the flourishing of the wool and cloth industry. You can imagine yourself going back in time with the classic fifteenth-century Cloth Hall and the octagonal belfry tower with carillon, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can still admire the Nonnenvest, Begijnenvest, Zandpoort and Bovenpoort from the medieval fortifications. The original profile is best visible at the Nonnenvest, where the rampart reaches a height of ten to twelve metres.

Historic Forest

The walk continues through the Peertsbos, northwest of the city. The first mention of the forest can be found in a charter from 1221. The name comes from the Middle Dutch word'Pertse\\\': boundary marker. Now we mainly enjoy nature here, when the forest was exploited as a medium wood forest. Ten to twenty trees were allowed to grow per hectare. The other trees were cut down every ten to fifteen years and used for cooking, heating and lumber. The municipality is doing everything it can to make the Peertsbos more varied again. You will already find a rich flora and fauna with various coniferous and deciduous trees, the yellow clump, duckweed, arrowweed, hedgehog's head. Blackthorn, liverwort, marsh maple, tansy, St. John's wort and many ivy also grow here.

Copyright photos: Mie De Backer and Ronny Van Den Bosch