Elst is a village belonging to the municipality of

Brakel Brakel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa ''Braglo'' first mentioned in 866 and located in the center of Opbrakel. Since 1970, t ...

. It is located in the

Denderstreek The Denderstreek or Denderland is a region in Belgium. It is named after the river Dender. Though the river stretches over three provinces, Hainaut, East Flanders and Flemish Brabant, the region called after the river is situated in East Flander ...

in the province

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

in Belgium.

Overview

The village was mentioned in 977 as Elsuth. There are two mills in the village. The oldest is the , an overshot watermill, which originated from before 898, and is one of the oldest in Belgium. The current mill was reconstructed in 1571. In 1859, it was severely damaged in a storm. In 1974, it stopped operations, and was declared a monument the next year. The

Leberg The Leberg is a hill and uphill street in Elst, part of the municipality of Brakel, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. Its top is at 99 m altitude, making it one of the highest hills of the Zwalm region, just north of the Flemish Ar ...

is located in the village. It is a steep 99 metre hill, and has become known as a significant obstacle in the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organi ...

. Elst is known for its ''

Geuteling {{unreferenced, date=July 2016 A ''geuteling'' (plural ''geutelingen'') is a traditional food of the Flemish Ardennes region of Belgium. It bears some similarity to a pancake. Origin Geutelingen began as a food to celebrate the Roman Catholici ...

en'', a kind of pancake.

Gallery

File:PM 114664 B Elst.jpg, View on Elst File:Gemeentelijk jongensschool - Elst in Brakel in 2018.jpg, Former boys school File:PM 122991 B Elst.jpg, Landscape around Elst File:Basisschool - Elst - Brakel.jpg, School in Elst

References

External links

*
Toerisme Brakel - Local tourist service
Brakel Populated places in East Flanders {{EastFlanders-geo-stub