The best running trails around Diest

Webbekoms Broek is part of the Webbekomsbroek-Borchbeemden Flemish Nature Reserve, a contiguous area of 397 hectares managed by the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forests. This also includes the Diesters Broek, the Schaffens Broek, and the Borchbeemden: Rotbroek, Gorenbroek, and Sint-Jansberg. Several watercourses flow through the area. The most important of these is the Demer. The others are primarily its tributary, the Zwarte Beek, the Grote Leigracht, and the Leigracht. The Demer Valley has been plagued by floods for centuries. The most severe floods in recent history date back to 1998. There were also serious floods in Diest in 2008. To prevent severe water damage, retention basins and floodplains were installed. The Webbekoms Broek and its surroundings constitute a floodplain. In September 1998, a retention basin with a surface area of 144 hectares was put into operation in the Webbekoms Broek. The area can hold 3.5 million m³ of water. There is an inner basin and an outer basin. The inner basin is surrounded by dikes. The remainder forms the outer basin, which primarily functions as a nature reserve.

On this segment you will get to know the Zwarte Beek and the Broek van Diest.

What was once a pig farm with 3,000 animals is now a mosaic of wetlands, forests, and play areas. Want to know more? Click through to the source: https://www.natuurpunt.be/nieuws/nieuwe-natuurplek-op-de-schomme

This beautiful location lies near the Begijnenbeek stream (and the present-day Webbekoms Broek) and was founded in 1253 by Arnold IV, Lord of Diest. Its location just outside the then-city center is no coincidence: the lower-lying marshy lands were cheaper to settle in than the city itself. (de Merode Landscape Park)

The forest is characterized by a wide variety of tree species of various ages. Surrounded by agricultural lands and old standard orchards, some trees in this forest have survived since 1900. It's no wonder that tree-dwellers like the squirrel and the woodpecker thrive in Sint-Jansberg. Even the deadwood teems with life. Its history is closely linked to the neighboring Carthusian Monastery, so the estate forest also holds significant archaeological value. So far, eight hectares of the field surrounding the Carthusian Monastery has been reforested with native tree species. Sint-Jansberg, along with Rotbroek and Gorenbroek, forms part of the larger Borchbeemden area.

The "official" entrance to the new nature reserve De Schomme, part of Dassenaarde and the Valley of the Three Streams. There's a good parking area for cars and bicycles, two picnic benches, three information boards with everything you need to know about the area, and access to the area with its pond, wood carvings, some play equipment, and a path through grazing land with a small observation tower. Some of the equipment, especially those where you can also rest, the picnic benches, the play hut, and the sandy path through the grazing land, could perhaps be highlights in themselves, but I prefer to add some impressions in the photos, and everything is close together. If you know where to start and the most important thing is there, that seems sufficient to me.

With a bit of luck you will encounter the herd of Kempen goats in this area.

During the Middle Ages, the Beguinage was located in a side street of the Kardinaal Mercierstraat, which is still called the Kleine Begijnhofgang. In 1247, the Beguines bought a large piece of land in Webbekom where the current Beguinage of Sint-Catharina-ten-Velde was founded. The Beguines built houses and the Sint-Catharina church with cemetery in the middle of the fields. The Beguines only made temporary promises of obedience and chastity. It was mainly a place where unmarried daughters could stay safely. The Beguines were active in the cloth industry but also allowed children to live there for a fee. A Beguine could buy a house for the duration of her life or rent herself to another Beguine. If they were really poor, they could go to one of the convents. At the beginning of the 16th century, all kinds of abuses prevailed at the Beguinage and there was little spirituality. In 1538, Nicolaas Esschius became pastor of the Diest Beguinage. He was the nephew of Johannes van Essche, who was provost of the Sint-Sulpitius chapter. Pastor Esschius immediately implemented reforms. From then on, the Beguines followed a sober and devout life, full of prayer and reflection. The Diest Beguinage became an example for numerous beguinages in the Netherlands. In 1669, the Beguinage reached its largest number of inhabitants: approximately 400 Beguines and 200 resident children lived in this mini-city. It was also around this period that the current Beguinage acquired its current appearance. The Sint-Catharinakerk became a true treasure trove of 17th-century painting. Works by Theodoor Van Loon, Frans Francken II, Jan Erasmus Quellinus II and Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen can still be admired there today. The Beguinage of Diest is today one of the 13 Flemish beguinages that are registered on the UNESCO list of World Heritage. The Saint Catherine Church has since been deconsecrated and has been used several times as a location for concerts and exhibitions. Source: information board at the church entrance (purple board).