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The Town Seal of Lier

 
The Market square with the town hall and the Belfry.

On the town square the visitor will spot some beautiful historic buildings. The town hall was built in Rococo-style and has a beautiful pediment which bears the coat of arms of the city. It was constructed from 1740 to 1745 by architect Van Baurscheit. The rococo style continues inside the building and is best shown by the extremely elegant staircase. Inside the town hall a few works of art make it worthwhile to pay a visit to the building. The visitor can admire several paintings, amongst others by Isidoor Opsomer, one of the most famous local painters.

Against the town hall stands the belfry tower. This important tower is the symbol of the power and the autonomy of the city (other important Flemish cities like Bruges, Ghent, Kortrijk, etc also have belfry towers). From the balcony of the tower the official city announcements were proclaimed. The tower itself dates from 1369, a time when the city of Lier became rather prosperous. Today, the belfry tower is the last remainder of what used to be the cloth hall, the symbol of the medieval economic expansion of the corporation of cloth workers. The tower is crowned with four little corner turrets. These turrets date only from 1911 and are an expression of the renovation style that was popular at the end of the 19th century, whereby old buildings were adapted to make them look genuinely old and medieval.  Around the market square numerous beautiful houses complement these two buildings. Especially the house at nr. 36, the "Eyckenboomhuis" is very beautiful and displays nice renaissance columns from the 16th century.

  The Prisoner's Gate.

On the corner of the Zimmer square one can see the "Prisoner's gate", which dates from 1375. This was originally a gate of the city wall. It was built in gothic style but later adapted with classicist elements. This can best be seen on the side of the gate towards the market square, where a niche harbors a polychromatic statue of Saint Rochus. Also on the other side the gate has been decorated with a statue of Saint Margaret. As from the second half of the 16th century until 1930, the gate was used as a prison, hence its name.

The House "The Fortuin".

You cannot visit Lier without having spotted the "Fortuin" house. This very beautiful building has become one of the symbols of the city of Lier. It is situated on the "Felix Timmermansplein , 7". It was built with bricks and natural stone and then painted white. It probably dates from the 17th century, but was adapted in the 18th century. It used to be originally a storage place for wheat and grain. Later it became a place to store coal, a lemonade factory, a workshop and since its restoration between 1962 and 1965, a restaurant.

  The Meat Hall.

The Meat Hall dates from 1480 but has been rebuilt in neogothic style in 1920. Since a few years it harbors the cultural center of Lier. Already in 1834 a renovation had been undertaken, transforming the building into a classicist construction. After the first World War, G. Careels had the meat hall demolished and rebuilt in its original style. The two lions at the entrance, bearing the sign S.P.Q.L. originally decorated the entrance of the town hall, where they were removed in 1863.

  The Saint Peter's Chapel

Behind the Saint Gummarus church, a less imposing, but no less important, religious building can be seen : the Saint Peter's Chapel. This chapel is probably the oldest still remaining construction in Lier. It was built around 1225 as part of a larger Romanesque church. This church replaced the older, wooden church that was erected here in 764 by Saint Gummarus. After the Saint Gummarus church had been completed, the Romanesque church was partially demolished, but a part of the choir, a part of the nave and the transept were preserved. During the First World War, the chapel was completely burnt down, but afterwards rebuilt by canon R.Lemaire.

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