In Belgium you never have to look far to find a castle or an abbey. In Leuven, we have both: the Arenberg Castle and Park Abbey or “Abdij van ‘t Park”, as we say.
Park Abbey: a bit of history
Park Abbey was founded in the 12th century under the influence of Duke Godfrey II, the Bearded one. He owned a large park in Leuven and asked the Norbertines to occupy a small church he had on his grounds, hence the name “Park Abbey”.
As time went by, the buildings were enlarged and the abbey became a place of agriculture as well as academic study.
The history of Park Abbey isn’t without trouble though, as it suffered during the religious wars between the Netherlands and Spain and was confiscated by the French during their Revolution. But it survived, and today a small number of Norbertines still live there and the church itself is still in use.
At the moment, the abbey and its entire domain are being renovated and “reshaped”, changes that will take until 2018 to finish.
A walk in the park
Although Park Abbey is only a 5-minute drive from where I live, I’d only been there twice before. Once for a short stroll and once in the winter to go ice skating on one of the two ponds. Today Boyfriend and I were more ambitious. We were going to walk all around the two ponds and visit the museum.
One of the few things we immediately noticed is the new parking lot in front of the ponds. A great addition, because there weren’t any real parking spaces by the Abbey before and so people would just park in places that seemed more or less adequate.
I took out my camera and off we went.
There’s a path leading all around the ponds and from some points you get a great view of the water and the Abbey. It was very nice walking there in the first spring sun. The trees didn’t have leaves as yet and they let the light through without any protest. I’m sure you can find plenty of shade on this lane in summer, though.
No photos of the Abbey up close, I’m afraid, as the restoration works mean that the building is partly covered by scaffolding and there are working men’s trucks everywhere. With renovations scheduled until 2018, I think I’ll come back here regularly not only to follow the progress, but also to take photos of those parts of the Abbey that are completed.
You don’t expect me to wait until the whole thing is finished, now do you?
Art at Park Abbey
Park Abbey has gathered a large collection of art throughout the ages, as well as over 6,000 old prints. A small part of the art and print collection is already on display at the “locatorium”, now a small museum (free entrance). More items should be disclosed in the future as a larger museum is being worked on.
Practical information
Abbey Park (website in Dutch)
Abdij van Park 7, Leuven
Where to stay in Leuven
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How to get to Leuven
Leuven can easily be reached by train from other cities as well as from Brussels Airport, which is the best airport to fly to if you plan on visiting Leuven.
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Bram says
I adore Leuven. It’s easily one of my favorite Belgian cities. Great idea to zoom in on particular sites in and around the city!
Sofie says
Thanks Bram! Planning on doing more of that in the future:)
nancy alexander says
This abbey is so beautiful. We passed it on saterday with a tour on the solar train and inmidiatly fell in love. We knew we had to go back and spend some time here. The next day we walked around, enjoyed the wonderfull weather and visited the museum. Even the second time, the view was very impressive.
I’ve seen so many places but Leuven deserves a place in my top 10 favorite places around the world.
Sofie says
I didn’t know the solar train passed through there! You taught me something new about my own city:)
Gayla says
What a beautiful place. I’m adding Abdij van ‘t Park to our list of places to visit. We’re going to be in Brussels this weekend, but sadly don’t think we’ll have time to get to Leuven. Hopefully, we’ll be back in the area before too long! Thanks for the information 🙂
Sofie says
Well, there’s definitely more than enough in Brussels to keep you occupied for a weekend! Abdij van’t Park is also a little harder to reach as it’s outside of the center and you’d have to take the bus from the train station (or walk a bit), but little gems deserve a bit of effort, I think:)