Remy and the Leuven-Mechelen Canal

Pictures taken January 1996

 

I've lived almost 6 years in Leuven, the university-town of Belgium, which means a lot of bars, cafes, bistro's, places to drink, places to dance, places to have a beer and many more places (probably some places to study too). Leuven is not only famous for its bars, it's also (world)famous for its beer called "stella artois". The stella factories are located inside and around the town, with easterly wind the whole city smells like beer ... how can you study like this ?

Although some of the stella buildings are quite old and beautiful, they are still being used and I've never managed to sneak into the more interesting ones.

A bit further down the canal stands the Remy-tower, located next to the Remy factory (which is still in service). The tower was built in the 20's and is now owned by a very nice gentleman, Jos De Becker. Although the inside of the tower is uninteresting, the dome is impressing, as is the view from the terrace.

I took these pictures in the cold winter of '96. The canal was frozen and the ice was broken by an icebreaker.

 

Leuven on the background. On the left you can see the "De Stordeur" factory which is fairly easily accessible (but dangerous and dark; all machines have been taken out leaving holes in every floor through which you can fall ... deeeeeeeep  !).

 

View taken from the air (not "my" Boeing). You can see the dome and the terrace. The part below the dome had 6 grain elevators. You can still see the traces of the building next to the tower that was torn down some years ago.

 

 

 

 

The inside of the building is empty, you have to use a ladder to climb up (and don't look down)

 


 

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