Not as well known as Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp but still worth a visit if you happen to be in neighbourhood

In medieval times used to be the capital of the duchy of Brabant before it got replaced by Brussels. It still remained one of the wealthier and important cities of the region so it isn't to surprising that in 1425 it came to house the first university of what would become Belgium. Today Leuven still boasts a very fine collection of gothic, baroque and neo-gothic thanks to this combination of trade and study.

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The univeristy library

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The next 20 pictures are the beguinage, the largest and most beautiful off its kind. Unesco world heritage since 1998
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The 15th century townhall, probably a building you either love or hate. This is about the most extremely decorated that gothic could turn out.

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beautiful place, seems to be very cosy and though i'm from poland it looks quite familiar to me - :cheers:

looks like a fairytale town. really cool!

Great shots, thank you for sharing! :)

Looks like there is some distinct evidence of Hansa architecture present, of which I am a particular fan. :D

Wow...Leuven is more than beautiful!
Thanks for the great tour! :cheers:

Went back this week to visit the new museum of the city

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Shortest name they could think of: M

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Inside the main church of the city

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The saint peter church was never finished as you can see in the second post. This shows 2 of the 3 towers that where planned for its facade.

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Decorating the cityhall with christmas lights.

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A bit outside of the citycenter you can find the Arenberg campus. There are several buildings situated around the Arenberg castle which was donated to the university by the Belgian state after the first world war. Not that it was a big deal for our government, the family Arenberg was german and all of their possesions had been confiscated after the war.

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Beautiful city.

Nice pictures again EvanG!

what a beautiful town!!!!

:applause:

Truly magnificent!!!

Great presentation, great photos :cheers: thanks

Fantastic! This is the first thing that comes to my mind, the architecture is so stunning and the town looks so liveable. Belgium towns have a so well preserved historic patrimonium that should be example for thousands of countries.

Really good job.

:applause: