Begijnhof

Já visitei o Begijnhof dezenas de vezes, levo lá as visitas e ainda não tinha feito post... Porta de entrada na Spui e a casa de fachada em madeira.

“In about 1150, a group of women came together to live in a religious community, primarily to look after the sick. These were, in effect, the first ‘Beguines’ although the name was not yet used.”

“The women were not nuns and nor did they live in the seclusion of a convent. They had no founders nor did they make lifelong vows. They did have to be unmarried, to make a vow of chastity and to promise obedience to the parish priest, but since they were not expected to make a vow of poverty, they were free to dispose of their own possessions.

They could renounce their vows at any moment and leave the Beguinage, for instance, to get married.”

É um sítio quase escondido no centro da cidade, calmo e tranquilo, onde se deve respeitar quem lá vive, nomeadamente não entrando fora das horas de visita. Tem 2 igrejas com missas e outras celebrações. E há muitos outros semelhantes noutras cidades...