The best traffic-free bike rides around Galderse Meren

This charming chapel in Minderhout was built in the mid-17th century by pastor Waltman van Dyck, brother of the famous painter Antoon van Dyck. The chapel door is usually open during the day. So be sure to step inside if you are nearby.

Beautiful place to pause for a moment at this historic water gate and let your thoughts travel back in time. In other words, to the Eighty Years' War where the name Spanjaardsgat refers to the ruse with the Turfship of Breda.

Nice little church. It was closed when we were there.

Beautiful cycle path in a quiet area, along the meandering Mark.

This charming chapel in Minderhout was built in the mid-17th century by Pastor Waltman van Dyck, brother of the painter Anthony van Dyck. The name "Our Lady of the Field" refers to an old legend: a girl found a statue under a bush that kept returning to that spot, even when brought to the church. This was seen as a sign that Mary wanted to be venerated there, and so a chapel was built.

The Laermolen is an undershot watermill located on the Mark River on Molenstraat between Hoogstraten and Minderhout. The first mention of the mill dates back to 1405, but it is likely older. It was formerly a double mill: a corn mill, later a bark mill on the left bank, and an oil mill on the right bank. The oil mill was shut down in 1860, and the rest of the mill in 1913, because the owners had sold the dam rights. After 1918, the bark mill was demolished, leaving only the remains of the oil mill and the lock floor. Since 1995, the non-profit organization De Laermolen has campaigned for its restoration. In 2004, the oil mill was put back into operation. The municipality of Hoogstraten purchased the mill in 2005 and granted it a leasehold to the non-profit organization. The mill is now functioning again and is open to the public on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Every year, "smoutebollen" (Dutch doughnuts) are served, fried in oil produced by the mill.

"Where the chapel now stands, there used to be nothing more than wasteland and thorny shrubs. One day, a young girl found a 'beautiful doll' under a bush while playing. When she happily showed the find to her mother, she quickly saw that it was no ordinary doll and carefully put it away. There was great surprise when the find appeared to have disappeared the next day. The girl went looking again and found the doll again in the same place near the bush where she had found it the day before. This miraculous story was told to the priest, who decided to take the doll in procession to the parish church. The doll was taken to the church three times and three times it returned to the wood bush. They knew no better than to build a chapel at the place where Mary clearly wanted to be venerated." The legend remains primarily an oral tradition, but official documents from 1650 also speak of a 'miraculous bell blanket' in an 'old chapel'. No archive has been preserved from the earliest period and the construction of the first chapel. The construction of the second chapel in 1650 was documented. It is said that the entire construction of the chapel was paid for with the donations of pilgrims. The first stone was laid by Waltman van Dyck. He would remain pastor in Minderhout for 28 years.

A beautiful chapel, worth stopping for a moment.