Why Nivelles
Nivelles is a historic municipality situated in the Walloon Brabant province of Wallonia, Belgium. The city serves as the head of an administrative district encompassing the entire province and incorporates the former settlements of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux. Known for its deep heritage, Nivelles developed around a major seventh-century monastic foundation and remains a notable cultural destination in southern Belgium.
Human settlement in the area dates back to Danubian agriculturalists around 4,000 BC. Following the destruction of Roman structures during third-century Germanic invasions, the region became part of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia. In the seventh century, Itta, the widow of Frankish official Pippin of Landen, founded an abbey on their estate. Her daughter Gertrude became the monastery's first abbess, attracting waves of pilgrims. The abbey prospered and expanded, culminating in the dedication of a grand Romanesque church in 1046 in the presence of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III and Wazo, Prince-Bishop of Liège.
By the thirteenth century, the expanding town was incorporated into the Duchy of Brabant, where local guild members eventually secured civic rights from Duchess Joanna in the fourteenth century. Economic difficulties followed a 1647 uprising by thread manufacturers, alongside seventeenth-century sieges during wars between France and the Spanish Netherlands. Heavy industry, including metallurgy and railway manufacturing, expanded following the Belgian Revolution of 1830. After widespread destruction during World War II in May 1940, much of the city center was rebuilt, leaving historic wall remnants on the south side of the church.
The city's primary landmark is the Collegiate Church of St. Gertrude, an eleventh- to thirteenth-century structure recognized as an exceptional example of Belgian Romanesque architecture. Beneath the building lie seventh-century Merovingian and ninth-century Carolingian tombs, as well as an expansive Romanesque crypt. One tower houses "Jean de Nivelles," a two-meter-tall automaton from around 1400 that strikes the hours, beside a carillon featuring 49 bells and four named canons. Additional sights include an archaeological museum, the sixteenth-century Recollets convent and church, and Dodaine park on the town's southern edge.
Nivelles preserves several traditional events, such as the annual Saint-Gertrude religious procession, which originated in the thirteenth century. The city is also famous for its processional giants, led by Goliath—a figure dating to 1365—who is accompanied by family members and giant animal figures. During the first weekend of Lent, the nineteenth-century Nivelles Carnival brings costumed Gilles to the streets. Visitors can sample the city's culinary specialty, tarte al d'jote, a savory pie made with local cheese, greens, onions, eggs, and butter.
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