smiling_da_vinci
Mechelen Fisheyed
This link is just in Dutch unfortunately. Here is a brief translation I just cooked up:
In early times only the Steenweg ‘Rock road’, could be found here. An old road paved with cobblestones which connected the ‘Grootbrug’, or ‘Large Bridge’ and the present day Steenweg, part of an important route from Bavay in the North of present day France to Utrecht in the Netherlands. A canal was dug in the 13th century along the Steenweg which connected the river Dijle and the Koolvliet. On the Eastern bank of this canal a Vismarkt (fishmarket) was built.
In 1532 this canal was put underground and the Vismarkt moved to where it nowadays. The last part of the canal on the Ijzeren Leen was filled up in 1675.
The name Ijzeren Leen dates from the 17th century, and stems from the iron railings (ijzeren leuningen), which were put along the canal in the century before. They were probably manufactured between 1531 and 1534 and restored between 1783 and 1927.
(source: Bouwen door de eeuwen heen in Vlaanderen)
Nowadays the Ijzeren Leen called the Champs Elysees of Mechelen. It contains the ‘Schepenhuis’, which is the former town hall. This houses a small museum with 16th and 17th century art.
Mechelen Fisheyed
This link is just in Dutch unfortunately. Here is a brief translation I just cooked up:
In early times only the Steenweg ‘Rock road’, could be found here. An old road paved with cobblestones which connected the ‘Grootbrug’, or ‘Large Bridge’ and the present day Steenweg, part of an important route from Bavay in the North of present day France to Utrecht in the Netherlands. A canal was dug in the 13th century along the Steenweg which connected the river Dijle and the Koolvliet. On the Eastern bank of this canal a Vismarkt (fishmarket) was built.
In 1532 this canal was put underground and the Vismarkt moved to where it nowadays. The last part of the canal on the Ijzeren Leen was filled up in 1675.
The name Ijzeren Leen dates from the 17th century, and stems from the iron railings (ijzeren leuningen), which were put along the canal in the century before. They were probably manufactured between 1531 and 1534 and restored between 1783 and 1927.
(source: Bouwen door de eeuwen heen in Vlaanderen)
Nowadays the Ijzeren Leen called the Champs Elysees of Mechelen. It contains the ‘Schepenhuis’, which is the former town hall. This houses a small museum with 16th and 17th century art.