Béguinage d’Anderlecht

Béguinages are unique to Belgium and the Netherlands. They were a collection of buildings run by a sisterhood of (usually rich) pious, widowed women. Anderlecht’s ‘convent’ was founded in 1252 and was home to eight beguines. Step back in time and explore the collection of 16th-and 18th-century maisonettes.

Also on site is gem-of-a-museum Maison d’Erasme (Rue du Chapitre 31; open: Tues—Sun 10am—6pm, closed Mon) dedicated to the life and works of Dutch humanist and theologian, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, best known for his translation of the New Testament from Greek into Latin. He lived here for a five months in 1521 and today the house contains a museum — highlights include a first edition of his seminal work 'In Praise of Folly' (1509) and Flemish Primitive artworks — a world-class library of Erasmus literature (visits by prior arrangement only) and a small garden filled with 16th-century medicinal plants believed to have been used by Erasmus himself.