Leuven Naamsestraat 61 - 120748 - onroerenderfgoed

Premonstratensian College (est. 1571) was a house of studies of the

Premonstratensian Order The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Church ...

at the

Old University of Leuven The Old University of Leuven (or of Louvain) is the name historians give to the Medieval university, university, or ''studium generale'', founded in Leuven, Duchy of Brabant, Brabant (then part of the Burgundian Netherlands, now part of Belgium ...

that later housed the Physics Institute of the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

. The façade at Naamsestraat 61 was listed as a public monument in 1942 and the building as a whole in 2009.

History

The college was founded jointly by the abbots of the Norbertine abbeys of Averbode,

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

Grimbergen Grimbergen () is a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium, north of the capital Brussels. The municipality comprises the towns of Beigem, Grimbergen, Hu ...

and

Ninove Ninove () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flanders, Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city o ...

for the training of the order's theologians. It was housed in what had been the refugium of Grimbergen Abbey, and formally inaugurated at Christmas 1573. By the mid-18th century the original building was no longer fit for purpose and was replaced with a new building in 1753–1755, probably designed by

Grégoire Godissart Grégoire is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname / Family name *Alexandre Grégoire (1922–2001), Haitian painter *Antonina Grégoire (1914-1952), Belgian commercial engineer, feminist and communist, me ...

(1708–1780), a

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...

of Averbode Abbey. After the suppression of the university in 1797, during the

French period In Northern European historiography, the term French period (, , ) refers to the period between 1794 and 1815 during which most of Northern Europe was controlled by Republican or Napoleonic France.Eduard Rothert''Rheinland-Westfalen im Wechsel d ...

the building was briefly used as a barracks, a law court and a hospital. From 1818 it housed the natural history collections of the newly founded

State University of Leuven The State University of Leuven () was a university founded in 1817 in Leuven in Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was distinct from the Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) and from the Catholic University of L ...

, and later became the Physics Institute of the Catholic University of Leuven and then the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

References

{{coord missing, Belgium Old University of Leuven colleges Protected heritage sites in Belgium 1571 establishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 16th century