Arriving in Belgium on the Eurostar, it is always tempting to continue on to a popular weekend destination like Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp. But this time I hop on a local train at the Brussels Gare du Midi for the 30-minute journey to Mechelen, a surprisingly grand and opulent city that in the 16th century was capital of most of the Low Countries – Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Despite boasting an eclectic mix of medieval churches and renaissance palaces, eye-catching contemporary art and culture venues, great bars, restaurants and the obligatory Belgian brewery, it remains delightfully uncrowded, unspoilt and firmly off the tourist trail.
Railway buffs will know that Mechelen’s original 1835 train station was the terminus of continental Europe’s first railway. Today it is being rebuilt and is part construction site, part futuristic travel hub. But it is only a 15-minute walk through narrow cobbled streets into the heart of the historic town centre, with the Unesco world heritage bell tower of Saint Rumbold’s Cathedral serving as a landmark.
Inside the cathedral, the baroque high altar features a painting of Christ on the cross by Anthony van Dyck and a choir by Lucas Faydherbe. But most visitors head straight for the stairs up to the belfry, blissfully unaware that there are 538 of them. Their reward is a vertiginous open-air walkway around the top of the tower with spectacular views.
To get a feel for Mechelen’s sumptuous golden age, the next stop is the Hof van Busleyden museum, a splendid redbrick palace surrounded by ornamental Renaissance gardens that welcomed princes, emperors and figures such as Erasmus and Sir Thomas More. Recently renovated, the building is dedicated to the history of the city and filled with priceless tapestries, baroque sculptures and Flemish old masters such as Peter Paul Rubens and David Vinckboons.
Other historic buildings have also been reinvented for modern times, such as Het Predikheren. This 17th-century monastery has been transformed into a public library that is now the town’s cultural hub, hosting art exhibitions, dance and music performances. Comfy sofas and armchairs line a cloistered terrace, with the casual Barbib serving coffee, craft beers and sandwiches. More upmarket, the intimate Michelin-starred dining room of Tinèlle offers a €53 three-course lunch by Flemish chef Ken Verschueren, along with à la carte dishes such as North Sea crab, smoked eel and pigeon accompanied by crunchy, seasonal hop shoots.
Mechelen’s other landmark building is Grand Béguinage, a typical medieval Flemish town-within-a-town initially created as a refuge for lay religious women (Béguines), and now a Unesco world heritage site. Today, its labyrinth of narrow alleyways and tiny cottages house a grand church and Het Anker, a family-run brewery and distillery, which was founded by the Béguines in 1471. A tour includes beer and whisky tastings, and its cosy brasserie is popular for local specialities such as beef carbonnade, a hearty stew slow-cooked in their signature Gouden Carolus beer, or Mechelen’s famous koekouek (cuckoo chicken), served with fresh local asparagus.
A slow stroll back through the town centre brings me to my lodgings, Martin’s Patershof, an imposing neo-Gothic church that has again changed with the times, being transformed into an arty hotel. Several rooms have original stained-glass windows and arched vaults, while the breakfast hall is dominated by an imposing altar and religious paintings.
Saturday is market day in Grote Markt, the city’s main square, which is lined with ancient mansions, guild houses and its palatial 16th-century town hall. This is the place to pick up local cheeses, smoked sausages, shrimps and oysters, and sip chilled Belgian bubbly. More food is on the menu at the nearby covered Vleeshalle, an immense 19th-century butcher’s market that has been reborn as a vibrant emporium for cosmopolitan food stalls and is a firm favourite with locals for a tasty, reasonably priced lunch.
The conviviality of market day is in marked contrast to an afternoon spent at Kazerne Dossin, a holocaust museum dedicated to Mechelen’s transit camp for the deportation of Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals to Nazi concentration camps. The building is an austere concrete pentagon with four floors dedicated to the victims of wartime antisemitism in Belgium, as well as temporary exhibitions about contemporary human rights abuses across the globe.
Afterwards, I wander along the futuristic towpath of the Dyle River that zigzags through the town centre – a raised ramp that seemingly floats above the water, dipping under ancient bridges and past the old fish market – until I come out at Kruidtuin. The former botanical gardens are now a lush public park of streams, lakes and flowerbeds. Spring is definitely in the air, with the first daffodils shooting up, and locals are getting excited about the upcoming Parkpop season of outdoor summer concerts. Even though the music is free, this being little-known Mechelen, there are never huge crowds.
