Aldeneik, founded in 730, is a suburb of the Belgian town of

Maaseik Maaseik (; li, Mezeik) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Both in size (close to 77 km2) and in population (approx. 25,000 inhabitants, of whom some 3,000 non-Belgian), it is the 8th largest municipality in Limburg ...

. It lies on the left bank of the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

, close to the border with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, close to where the Bosbeek runs off it. According to legend it sprung up around a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

set up by the Frankish sisters Herlindis and Relindis, who wrote the Gospel book known as the Codex Eyckensis, still in Maaseik. The settlement contains the Romanesque and Gothic Sint-Annakerk.

Foundation legends

Devil

The Devil saw the sisters writing the Codex and could do nothing to stop them, until he had the idea of blowing out their candles. However, an angel came and re-lit them.

Gallery

Willibrordusput.jpg, 7th century baptistery built by

Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His fathe ...

on the site of a shrine to

Wōden Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...

Kapel harlindis en relindis.jpg, The chapel (ca. 2018) in Aldeneik, consecrated by Herlindis and Relindis Kapel harlindis en relindis (03), Sint-Harlindis en Relindiskapel (Aldeneik).jpg, The chapel in August 2022

References

{{RefList Populated places in Limburg (Belgium) The Devil in legend Angelic apparitions