The best traffic-free bike rides in Visbeekvallei

The St. Anthony's Chapel is a chapel in the hamlet of Zalfen, located near Salphen, which is part of the Antwerp municipality of Malle. Nearby Oostmalle was hit by a plague epidemic around 1625. Around 60 sick people reportedly fled to the heath. A certain Adriaan Mattheeusen, who lost three children to the disease, had to bury them on the heath and built a chapel for this purpose. This chapel was soon also used for funeral services, and the deceased were buried in a nearby cemetery. The chapel attracted pilgrims and was therefore expanded in 1726. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Antoniuskapel_(Zalfen)

The Grotenhoutbos, also known as the Gierlese Bos, is a forest in Flanders, southwest of Turnhout, on the border of the municipalities of Vosselaar and Gierle. It covers an area of 375 hectares and is part of the Natura 2000 area "Forest and heathland areas east of Antwerp." https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotenhoutbos

Kilometers of gravel roads through the woods. Wonderful cycling.

During dry spells, walking becomes more difficult due to the amount of loose sand. But that's just the nature of sand dunes.

This tree was once magnificent. Now it seems to be dying... 😟

The Saint Anthony Chapel of Salphen is located south of the Salphen road, an old avenue of predominantly ascending summer oaks (Quercus robur) and is surrounded by ascending trees (mainly Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris). It is an oriented brick chapel with a three-sided closed west facade and a lower rectangular choir under slate saddle roofs (ridge parallel to the street) with roof turret. On the east side there are two stepped gables on shoulder pieces with braiding. On the north side there are rectangular windows and a basket-handle arch door and a basket-handle arch door. The plastered and painted interior has a wooden truss with tie beam. The furniture includes an altar from the 19th century and a painted wooden statue of Saint Anthony Abbot (end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century). The text is provided by: Agency for Immovable Heritage (AOE)

Where the Visbeek forms the border with the neighbouring municipality of Malle, this chapel was consecrated on 4 May 1952. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the youth movement Boeren Jeugd Bond Zoersel, now Katholieke Landelijke Jeugd. The chapel is shaped like a reduced model of a basilica. The chapel is often the target of vandalism. On one occasion, the chapel even had to be removed from the moat, completely destroyed. Fons Schrijvers, who maintains the chapel, no longer knows how often the glass has been repaired and how many statues of Mary have been replaced. Source: information board at the chapel

This neo-Gothic church was built in 1877 to a design by Pieter Jozef Taeymans. The old church tower was preserved and dates from 1430. The church and the organ were recognized as a protected monument in 1975. In the church we find the miraculous statue of Our Lady, carved from pear tree and then gilded. According to legend, the statue was found around 1220 and has been venerated for many hundreds of years by the population of Vosselaar and pilgrims from the surrounding area. What we can say with certainty is that the statue dates from the 13th century. Even today, devout worshippers come to ask for help from the "Consoler of the Afflicted". The veneration of Mary declined sharply in the second half of the 20th century, but remained alive in the many neighborhood chapels. To the left of the entrance to the Church of Our Lady you will find the memorial stone of Adriaen Ghys. The church houses the restored Jacobus Verbuecken organ from 1739. Unique in this organ is the Voix Humaine 8v, it is the only example that has been preserved. More information about this can be found on the website of the Vosselaar Organ Committee. The devotion to Our Lady became known mainly through the interest and involvement of Mary of Hungary. She stimulated, among other things, the arrival of pilgrims from Turnhout. The importance of Vosselaar can also be deduced from the fact that she is mentioned in the ‘Brabantia Mariana’ by Wichmans (1632) and in the ‘Diva Virgo Candida’ by Gerardus Van Herdegom (1650). Source: https://www.vosselaar.be/onze-lieve-vrouwkerk Duplicate: https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/7440248