Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

village roughly 10 km east of

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

. It is a part of

Sint-Katelijne-Waver Sint-Katelijne-Waver (, old spelling: ''Kathelijne-Waver''; french: Wavre-Sainte-Catherine, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver and Sint-Katelijne-Waver p ...

. The village contains a

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church and is situated not far from the main highway between

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Wintertuin

It is famous for the "wintertuin" ("winter garden", pronounced win-tehr-tan) of the

Ursulines Institute The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they t ...

and for the church. Only. It is almost never open to public visits, except on occasional open houses and group visits. The wintertuin is just one room (literally) in the Ursuline complex, initiated in 1841 and gradually expanding to fulfill its function as a boarding school and teacher training school. The identity of the architect of the wintertuin in 1900 has been lost in the passage of time, but its magnificent stained glass dome together with the interior decoration remains as a testament to the dazzling beauty of Art Nouveau architecture. All of the fixtures and furnishings of the wintertuin (kind reminder: win-tehr-tan) are original and have remained in superb condition. The other rooms of the Institute were created in different styles as was normal in interiors of church inmates.

Gallery

File:OlvWaverZichtopdekerktoren.jpg, Village view File:Raadhuis (32750886593).jpg, Former town hall File:Onze Lieve Vrouw kerk, OLV-Waver (33182105950).jpg, Our Lady Church File:OlvWaverZichtopdetorekens.jpg, View on the towers

References

Convents in Belgium Populated places in Antwerp Province Sint-Katelijne-Waver {{Antwerp-geo-stub