Universiteitsbibliotheek

Leuven

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Dominating Monseigneur Ladeuzeplein, this imposingly grand Flemish Renaissance–style palace features a soaring Scandinavian-style brick tower topped with a three-storey octagonal stone cupola.

The library was convincingly rebuilt after WWI with the financial aid of 400 American universities, having been infamously put to the torch in August 1914 during the schrecklichkeit ('terror' or 'hard measures') of the German occupation. It was then rebuilt a second time after WWII. Tickets to access the library's impressive main reading room (occasionally closed) include a 10-point audio guide activated by somewhat hard-to-spot 'Podcatcher' points. Tickets often access additional changing exhibitions. The 300-step tower is worth climbing for the open-air balcony view, creaking clock room and 1928 seven-tonne Liberty Bell.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Belgium, Antwerp, garden in Peter Paul Ruben's house

    Rubenshuis

    26.79 MILES

    This delightfully indulgent 1611 mansion was built as a home and studio for celebrated painter Pieter Paul Rubens. It was rescued from ruins in 1937 and…

  • Interiors of Notre dame d'Anvers cathedral, Anvers, Belgium

    Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal

    27.15 MILES

    Belgium’s finest Gothic cathedral was 169 years in the making (1352–1521). Wherever you wander in Antwerp, its gracious, 123m-high spire has a habit of…

  • BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - August 09, 2014: General view of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, one of the most visited museums in Belgium with its large art collection.; Shutterstock ID 586734455; Your name (First / Last): Daniel Fahey; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts POI

    Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts

    15.46 MILES

    This prestigious museum incorporates the Musée d’Art Ancien (ancient art); the Musée d’Art Moderne (modern art), with works by surrealist Paul Delvaux and…

  • Museum Plantin-Moretus

    Museum Plantin-Moretus

    27.09 MILES

    The medieval building and 1622 courtyard garden alone would be worth a visit, but it's the world's oldest printing press, priceless manuscripts and…

  • The museum of musical instruments "Old England", Brussels, Belgium

    Old England Building

    15.42 MILES

    This 1899 former department store is an art nouveau showpiece with a black facade aswirl with wrought iron and arched windows. The building contains the…

  • Triumphal Arch at Parc du Cinquantenaire in the EU Quarter.

    Parc du Cinquantenaire

    13.92 MILES

    Parc du Cinquantenaire was built during Léopold II's reign. It's best known for its cluster of museums – art, history, military and motor vehicles – which…

  • TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Laurent Thomet.A picture taken on July 28, 2011 shows stuffed rhinoceros at the Brussels Royal Institute for Natural Sciences Museum. It was a daring daytime robbery at the natural science museum. The two thieves snuck into the rhino gallery and ripped a stuffed head off the wall. They carried it to a restroom, opened a window, and dropped the 30-kilo trophy two-stories down to an accomplice waiting in a van. The museum had never been robbed until the July heist, when it became the latest of a rising number of science museums in Europe targetted by thieves for rhino horns, which can fetch tens of thousands of euros on the black market. AFP PHOTO / GEORGES GOBET (Photo credit should read GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images)

    Institut des Sciences Naturelles

    14.74 MILES

    Thought-provoking and highly interactive, this museum has far more than the usual selection of stuffed animals. But the undoubted highlight is a unique …

  • Lace making in Bruges, 2014. The intricate lace patterns in Belgium are unmatched in any other country. The lace trade rose during the early Renaissance. Emperor Charles V decreed that lace-making should be a compulsory skill for girls in convents and beguines throughout Flanders. Lace became fashionable on collars and cuffs for both sexes. Trade reached a peak in the 18th century. Lace makers are traditionally women. Hundreds of craftswomen still work in Bruges and Brussels, centres of bobbin lace, creating intricate work by hand, often using over 100 threads per bobbin. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

    Musée Mode & Dentelle

    15.7 MILES

    Lace making has been one of Flanders’ finest crafts since the 16th century. While kloskant (bobbin lace) originated in Bruges, naaldkant (needlepoint lace…

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Nearby Leuven attractions

1. M Van Museum

0.13 MILES

This state-of-the-art gallery houses a priceless collection of 15th- to 18th-century religious works, fascinating Leuven-relevant historical objects and…

2. OLV-Ter-Koorts

0.25 MILES

With its unusual interplay of brick and stone work, the exterior of this baroque former church is worth a look as you stroll by. It's now part of a…

3. Stadhuis

0.27 MILES

Far and away Leuven’s most iconic sight, the incredible 15th-century stadhuis is a late-Gothic architectural wedding cake flamboyantly overloaded with…

4. St-Pieterskerk

0.3 MILES

At Leuven's heart is this soaring Brabantine-Gothic church (1425) whose remarkable wooden pulpit is fashioned like twin palm trees that drip with cherubs…

5. St-Michelskerk

0.3 MILES

This church's enormous baroque frontage remains impressive despite considerable age-erosion to the limestone capitals. It's topped with trumpeteer angels…

6. Sint-Antoniuskapel

0.43 MILES

Though originally built before 1329, this chapel is now an archetypal work of 1960s church design, made memorable as the last resting place of Father…

7. Grote Begijnhof

0.61 MILES

This idyllic, village-like corner of Leuven would make an ideal film set for a medieval drama. The lantern-lit cobbled streets are lined with step-gabled…

8. Stella Artois

0.78 MILES

Just off the main inner ring road around 800m northwest of Leuven train station, this world-famous, highly automated brewery offers mostly group tours,…

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