The best walks and hikes around Jodoigne

It's not easy because to find the path from the field, you have to cross a section with lots of nettles. The path has been cleared a little, but there are still nettles to avoid, and the path is very muddy for 20 meters (in the middle of summer with dry weather)!

This part of the long narrow path, only interrupted by a paved part with a house, connects a beautiful part on the edge of Saint-Rémy-Geest with some beautiful houses where the other part of the path starts. Along the way you see some "narrow" bridges that you cannot cross but can stand on to view the Gobertange stream from a bit closer. Just like in the other part of the narrow path, there is a pond hidden behind the hedge. You can see it a bit, even with the vegetation.

Beautiful farms and village houses, streets covered with old cobblestones and an old cemetery surrounding the building with an impressive view over the countryside - it is a little bit of Burgundy that you feel around this charming church, entirely in white Gobertange stone and situated at the top of this beautiful village, on the hill. The whitewashed walls give the church a sober, contemplative atmosphere. Some of the sights in and around the church (see photos): The Virgin and Child Unsigned painting on wood, dated between 1591 and 1600. The work is also known as "The Holy Family with John the Baptist and the Archangel Gabriel". Statue of Saint Remi of Reims A polychrome, dressed statue of the bishop Saint Remi of Reims, dating from the 19th century, placed on the side altar on the north side. The statue is 120 cm high (the robes were traditionally made by seamstresses from the village). Baptism of Clovis Unsigned oil painting of the baptism of Clovis by Bishop Remi of Reims. It is dated between 1701 and 1800 and was made on behalf of Father Larmormainy. Stations of the Cross Ceramicist Gabriel Taeymans is the creator of several Stations of the Cross. In 1994, he was commissioned to make a Stations of the Cross. He created the stations in an original style, with natural postures, because he believed that those who were present with Christ during his passion must have shown him gestures of tenderness. Baptismal font Baptismal font commissioned by Father Jean Delwaide in 1687. He died the same year and it was his replacement, Charles Léonard, who baptized the newborns in the parish. The stonemason kept the old base, which unfortunately we cannot date. Tombstone in blue stone Tombstone in blue stone with the coat of arms of “de Fonteny et de Raul” (16th century) depicting a reclining couple: Raes de Fonteny and his wife Jeanne de Raul. The man is depicted bareheaded, with some parts of his chain mail still visible; the woman wears a headdress, her clothes falling in rich folds on her feet. Source: https://openchurches.eu/fr-be/edifices/saint-remy-jodoigne

Be sure to check out the gate as well.

At one point you can even see the churches of Hoegaarden and Tienen shining in the sun - if there is sun, that is.

The hilly agricultural landscape of Brabant Haspengouw, in the east of the province of Walloon Brabant, see https://hesbayegreeters.be/nl/brabants-haspengouw/

A beautiful driveway - with a fairly recent iron wayside cross at the beginning - takes you to this 'castle' that has a beautiful domain behind it with quite a few special trees and a large pond. The castle, as a plaque at the entrance says, was inhabited by a certain baron Jean-Pierre de Beaulieu, actually Jean-Pierre baron de Beaulieu-Marconnay in full and Johann Peter von Beaulieu in German. Why in German? Well, Jean-Pierre, J-P to his friends, was born in Lathuy in 1725. And that was part of the Austrian Netherlands at the time. And J-P became a general in the Austrian army where he fought against the Prussians during the Seven Years' War and against the French during the First Coalition War. In the battle against the French, led by a young man named Napoleon, Beaulieu became an artillery general and commander of the Austrian army in Italy. In 1796, however, he was replaced because he had not succeeded in stopping Bonaparte's troops. He died in 1819 in Linz, Austria, on his estate at the ripe old age of 94. So he did not stay here very often. But the domain is still worth it. The castle you see here is not the first one. The first was built around 1777 by the lord general and a second one was built in 1803. Only a few elements of the first castles remain due to destruction during the war. At the end of the 19th century, the castle came into the hands of the Pastur family. That is the same family that bought the castle in Jodoigne that later became known as Pastur Castle - see https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/5965104 Finally: in Lathuy you can follow a 'de Beaulieu walk', information board near the church.

'Vicomté' stands for viscounty and 'La Vicomté' is sometimes also used as a nickname for Jodoigne. Viscounts of Jodoigne were originally noble titles that were awarded to members of the family de Glymes de Hollebecque, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. This title was often linked to the possession of the castle de la Vicomté. It is not so easy to see the structure and size of this castle by sight. When you come from the Gete you walk along a rising path with an old wall on the left and an old fence with an old gate and old stairs in the depths on the right. It seems as if all this merges seamlessly into the terrain behind the castle of Vicomté. The small tower in brick and Gobertange stone that Dominiek mentions is the first recognizable part of the domain when you walk to the main square. From the main square it is a lot easier: you recognize the house immediately. Photos of the various parts that make it up, with some history, can be found at https://www.destinationbw.be/nl/fiche/ontdekking-en-recreatie/het-kasteel-van-vicomte-jodoigne_TFOLOD-A0-007C-15NJ/ Also mention that on the Vicomté domain there are still remains of the ramparts that once stood around Jodoigne and that were first built in the thirteenth century. That rampart had several towers and gates. It enclosed the primitive castle that stood on the site of the current Château Pastur. Something more about the Counts of Glymes who stayed here in the 17th century: Jodoigne was then just going through a period of decline. The 17th century was called the century of adversity (and the 16th century was not much better). In the 17th century, the King of Spain transferred the Jodoigne estate to Philippe de Ligne, Duke of Aarschot and Arenberg. And a few years later, it was bought by Count Winant de Glymes. Winant de Glymes and his wife Michelle d'Yedeghem lived in this castle of Vicomté. A few dozen meters further on the market, in the chapelle Notre-Dame du Marché, is their tomb. The Glymes family had a strong bond with Jodoigne. Guillaume de Glymes, already lived in a country house in Jodoigne-Souveraine in the fourteenth century, the predecessor of the current castle there that was built by the half-brothers Antoine-Joseph de Glymes and Ernest-Joseph de Spangen.