Sint-Anna-Pede Explained

Sint-Anna-Pede is a village in Itterbeek, Belgium, which is a deelgemeente of Dilbeek. It gets its name from the Pedebeek, the stream that flows through the village.^[1]

Sint-Anna-Pede was already mentioned in the first half of the 12th century as "Pethe"; later also as "capelle beatissima Anna in Peda" and as "apud Pede juxta nova capella", which means that there was possibly an older building at the same site.^[1]

Attractions

• St. Anna's Church : a 13th-century Roman church, restored in the 17th century in the Gothic style. It is depicted in The Blind Leading the Blind, a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It has had protected status since 1948.^[2]
• the Bruegel Museum: twelve large reproductions of landscapes by Pieter Bruegel, who came to the area looking for inspiration.
• the Zeventien bruggen (Seventeen bridges): a concrete viaduct of 520 m long and 28 m high across the valley of the Pedebeek. Sixteen of the bridges are part of the viaduct, while the seventeenth bridge lies under one of the arches.
• the Klein Sint-Anna-kasteeltje (Small Saint-Anna Castle): a castle where, according to legend, Charles V of Spain, Bruegel and Louis XIV of France would have slept.

References

1. Text on the Sint-Anna Church and the village, in Dutch Web site: Archived copy . 2012-04-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425050016/http://www.toerismedilbeek.be/pdf/De%20Sint-Annakerk.pdf . 2012-04-25 .
2. Website of tourist board of Dilbeek, in Dutch Web site: Toerisme Dilbeek - zien . 2012-04-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425050027/http://www.toerismedilbeek.be/pages/frameset/zien/itterbeek/annakerk.htm . 2012-04-25 .

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