Church Villages Walk, from open landscapes to sunken roads
Gentle slopes, enormous fields and distant horizons set the pace of this walk. You pass through the quiet heart of Hesbaye, exploring a landscape shaped for centuries by people and nature. Like the church village of Kerkom, your starting point, which for centuries was part of Sint-Truiden abbey.
Highlights along the way
A START WITHOUT PRAYER
We begin at the 19th-century neoclassical Saint Martin’s Church. After a fire in 1975, only the outer walls remained. Opposite the church stands the neo-Renaissance presbytery.
A FOREST FOR NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Along the way, you walk past the Forest for Peace, a place of calm and remembrance. It was created as part of the Flemish Week of Peace. Several schools got together and planted 800 trees here as a symbol against the many nuclear weapons in the world.
A VILLAGE WITH MEDIEVAL ROOTS
Following old country roads, you reach Muizen, a small and authentic farming village with medieval roots. These roads often follow routes that have connected farms, villages and places of worship for generations. Until 1977, Muizen was an independent municipality, a past that is still reflected in its strong village identity.
CAMPING IN A SILENT SPOT
This bivouac area is a place of tranquillity for slow tourism and returning to nature. This route is particularly suitable with its contrasting sheltered copses and open landscape.
FOLLOWING A SUNKEN ROAD
Sunken roads are ancient worn paths, formed over centuries by farmers’ carts making their way between fields and farmland. Here, you experience the gentle slopes of Hesbaye and follow the historical tracks that still shape the land.
See those piles of sand? They are hard to miss! Badgers have made their home here, in the sunken road. Please take care and remember: badgers and their setts are protected.
