1844 print CITY HALL, LEUVEN, BRABANT, BELGIUM, #41

Description: Belgique_41 1844 print CITY HALL, LEUVEN, BRABANT, BELGIUM, #41 Print from steel engraving titled Hotel de Ville de Louvain, published in a volume of L'Univers Pittoresque, Paris, approx. page size 21.5 x 14 cm, approx. image size 15 x 10.5 cm. Louvain, (French), Flemish LEUVEN, municipality, Brabant province, central Belgium, on the Dyle (Dijle) River and connected by canal with the Scheldt (Schelde), east of Brussels. It was founded in the 9th century around a fortress built by a German emperor against the Normans. It became important in the 11th century as the residence of the counts of Louvain, afterward (1190) the dukes of Brabant. It was a cloth-weaving centre and one of the largest cities in Europe in the 14th century, when a feud began between its citizenry and nobility. In 1379, 17 nobles were massacred in the town hall, bringing down the vengeance of the duke, to whom the citizens made abject surrender in 1383. The city declined as many weavers fled to Flanders and England; the duke moved to Vilvoorde, and Brussels (16 miles [26 km] west) replaced Louvain as capital of Brabant. What it lost in trade, Louvain partly recovered as a seat of learning, for in 1425 the Catholic University of Louvain was founded. The first university in the Netherlands, it became renowned for its Roman Catholic teaching. Still a major cultural centre, Louvain is also an agricultural market; its industries include food processing, brewing, and the manufacture of leather goods, machinery, and chemicals, as well as sawmilling and bell founding. The three-story town hall is one of the richest and most detailed examples of pointed Gothic, built by Mathieu de Layens, the master mason, from 1448 to 1463. The often-restored Gothic Church of St. Peter contains two fine paintings by Dirck Bouts and ironwork and brasswork--much of it by Quentin Massys. Other notable medieval buildings include the "Round Table" (former meeting place of the merchant guilds), churches of St. Gertrude, St. Quentin, Saint-Michel, and St. James, two monasteries, and a béguinage (retreat for secular nuns) with a church of 1305; the béguinage has been the property of Louvain's Catholic University since 1962. At nearby Heverlee is the 16th-century château of Arenberg; Leefdaal has one of similar vintage. Pop. (1983 est.) mun., 85,068.

Price: 23.99 USD

Location: Zagreb, HR

End Time: 2024-10-12T06:00:25.000Z

Shipping Cost: 8.5 USD