Project Oud Leuven: 1649 today

Follow me in the footsteps of a 17th-century cartographer.

Exploring Old Leuven

What I really love to do, is to explore a city using an old map. This is a project which I have embarked on, to explore my hometown – the city of Leuven, located in the Brabant region of modern-day Belgium.

What are the buildings that have remained? How do things look like today, compared to a few hundred years ago? Using Google Map and Google Earth, I superimposed the old map onto the modern day navigation map in order to find the exact location of the lost and existing sights.

Join me in my quest to explore Old Leuven!

The Map of 1649

The map I am using dates from 1649, and it comes from the Atlas van Loon, now in the possession of Het Scheepvaartmuseum in the Netherlands. The atlas is a collection of 17th century maps compiled by Joan Blaeu of the North and South Netherlands:

“De Atlas van Loon bevat de Nederlandse versie van de ‘Grooten Atlas (Atlas Maior)’ van Joan Blaeu (negen delen uit 1663-1665), de twee stedenboeken van de noordelijke en de zuidelijke Nederlanden uit 1649, en de uit 1663 stammende Italiaanse stedenboeken over de Kerkelijke Staat, de stad Rome en het koninkrijk Napels en Sicilië.” (Source)

Click below if you wish to download the image file of the map in JPG or the overlay in KMZ file (for Google Earth or Open Street Map).

Download JPG
Download KMZ
In eigen stilte zwijgend ingeklonken
Als steden in een donkere zee verdronken

Inscription marking the spot of Leuven's lost Castle

List of 74 Sites in the 1649 Atlas van Loon

As you can see from the original map, sites are numbered and there is a Legend on the right with the names of each numbered Key. For each of the sites, I produce a page numbered accordingly as on the 1649 Map, complete with the old and current names, the precise location on Google Map, as well as photos of its current state. On top of that, I have found some really interesting sites which are drawn on the map but are unmarked, yet offer a surprisingly interesting perspective today.

Legend:

  • [ ] : Faulty attributions made by the cartographer.
  • *: Site does not exist anymore and is not replaced by a significant building on the same spot.

I. – XXXVII.

XXXVIII. – LXXIV.

Extras

De Zeven Wonderen van Leuven, 1646
The Seven Wonders of Leuven, 1646

In the 17th century, several sights in Leuven were elevated to the Seven Wonders. The concept of Seven Wonders was inherited from the antiquity’s Seven Wonders of the World. After humanist scholar Erycius Puteanus (Eric van der Putte) came up with the Seven Wonders of Brussels, Leuven quickly followed suit in 1646, in line with the seven legendary noble families of the city. Out of the list, only three remain today.

Kerken
Churches

Kloosters
Abbeys

Colleges
Colleges

  • Aulnecollege
    American College
  • Breugelcollege
  • De Lelie, Pedagogie
  • Drietongencollege
  • Drieuxcollege
  • Hogeheuvelcollege
  • Luxemburgcollege
  • Premonstreitcollege
  • Sint-Ivocollege
  • Vigliuscollege

Huizen
Houses

  • Dieric Bouts
    Eygen Heerd
  • Quinten Massijs
    De Causse
  • Hotel d'Udekem d'Acoz
  • Hotel van 't Sestich
  • Huis Morillon
  • Johannes de Lyra
  • Justus Lipsius – Moribus Antiquis
  • Matthijs de Layens – De Cuythoek
  • Joannes Ludovicus Vivès - Tweebronnen
    Vital Decosterstraat/Diestsestraat

Straten
Streets

  • Den Cleynen Hollenwech
  • Den Goeden Hollenwech
  • Den Kwaden Hollenwech

Eerste Omwalling
Inner City Walls

Tweede Omwalling
Outer City Walls

The 'Meyboom' of Brabant

The planting of the ‘Meyboom‘ – the Netherlandish version of the English ‘Maypole’ – is an ancient Germanic ritual that dates back to the Iron Age. While the Meyboom is mostly put up in the month of May to celebrate the renewal of nature, it is also erected on newly-built homes and on special occasions in town squares to celebrate victories and marriages.

Leuven’s annual planting of the Meyboom on 9 August Saint Lawrence’s Day is a special one: it was awarded by the Duke of Brabant Hendrik I, not to Leuven but to Brussels in 1213 following a skirmish between the two rival cities. A sign of ducal support, this ‘Tree of Joy‘ of the whole Duchy of Brabant was finally stolen back in Leuven’s hands in 1974, after 761 years!

Read more about the history of the Leuven’s Great Brabant Meyboom here. Enjoy the video below that I made for its 2021 edition.

Oud Leuven: #5 Sint-Kwintenskerk The Sint-Kwintenskerk (Saint Quentin's Church) in Leuven was built in the Brabant High-Gothic style in 1450. Located on the Naamsestraat it was close to the Naamsepoort city gate of the second city wall of the city. Oud Leuven: #74 Brusselsepoort Today, Leuven's Brusselsepoort (Brussels Gate) is a sleepy junction that links the intra-muros Brusselsestraat to the extra-muros Brusselsesteenweg. Located on the hilly western side of Leuven, the Brusselsepoort once held a beautiful name of 'Wijngaardpoort' (Vineyard Gate) in the Middle Ages, as it commanded a splendid view over Leuven's sun-soaked slopes filled with rows and... Oud Leuven: #35 Pedagogie Het Varken The "Pedagogie Het Varken" (School of the Hog) existed from 1428 to 1797. It was located on today's Hogeschoolplein. Oud Leuven: Sint-Jobkapel Built in 1449, the Chapel of Saint Job (Sint-Jobkapel) and the Hospice of the Twelve Apostles (Godshuis van de Twaalf Apostelen) were located along what is known today as the Vaartstraat. The exact location is around today's number 106. This chapel was closely tied to the pan-European cult of Saint Job that rose to its... Oud Leuven: #26 Keizersberg Located at the northern tip of Leuven, within the second and outer city wall and east of the city gate Mechelsepoort, the Keizersberg is a medieval fortified hill that currently houses a Benedictine monastery, a public park and an emblematic giant statue of Queen Virgin Mary with baby Jesus that overlooks the city. Keizersberg is... Oud Leuven: Heilige-Geestpoort The Heilige-Geestpoort (Holy Ghost Gate) was one of the city gates of the first and inner city defence wall of Leuven. The gate was located on today's Diestsestraat, at the junction with the Vital Decosterstraat. Oud Leuven: #66 Verloren Kosttoren The 'Verloren Kosttoren' (Tower of Lost Cost) is one of the three surviving fragments of Leuven's second city wall. Once the defensive lookout post of Leuven and one of its highest points, the Verloren Kosttoren was a prominent landmark featured in every major painting of the city. Today, neglected by the authorities and covered by... Oud Leuven: #62 Vismarkt The oldest recorded marketplace of Leuven, the Vismarkt (Fish Market) is now an above-ground carpark that is framed by the Craenendonck, the Mechelsestraat, the Karel van Lotharingenstraat, the Visserstraat and the Augustijnenstraat. Its history as probably the first nuclear settlement of Leuven still lies hidden beneath the surface, as is an ancient arm of the... Oud Leuven: #36 Pauscollege The Pauscollege is located on today's Hogeschoolplein, opposite the park. It is one of the world's oldest university colleges. Oud Leuven: Sint-Eligiuskapel Located on Numbers 42 and 44 on today's Parijsstraat in Leuven, you will find traces of a small chapel that was dedicated to the 6th century Frankish Saint Eligius. Oud Leuven: #12 Het Groot Begijnhof The "Groot Begijnhof" is a "town-within-the-town" in the south of Leuven, on two arms of the River Dijle. Founded in the 13th century, this enclosed living quarters served religious women who lived in piety and chastity. The Groot Begijnhof is one of the best preserved, the largest and the most beautiful in the Low Countries.... Oud Leuven: #44 Sint-Joriskapel In the corner between the Kapucijnenvoer and Bankstraat, there used to be a Chapel devoted to St George. Today, it is a quant 18th-century house that is privately owned. Oud Leuven: #53 Vleeshuis Directly in front of Leuven's Sint-Pieterskerk is a square called 'Mathieu de Layensplein', after the city's Late Gothic architect. In fact, right up until 1914, this was Leuven's indoor meat market called 'Vleeshuis'. Oud Leuven: Klooster van de Ongeschoeide Karmelieten van Sint-Albertus The former "Klooster van de Ongeschoeide Karmelieten van Sint-Albertus" (Monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Friars of St Albert), also known in the 17th century as "Tacet", was located along current-day Naamsestraat right opposite the Karmelietenberg. Today, it is the site of the city hospital 'Heilig Hart (Sacred Heart)'. Oud Leuven: #51 Stadhuis Leuven's historic City Hall - Stadhuis - is one of the most beautiful buildings in Brabant Late Gothic style in Belgium. Located on the Grote Markt (the Great Market), this architectural jewel was enclosed by the Naamsestraat, the Muntstraat and the Boekhandelstraat, with an inner courtyard called Vrijthof.