St. Bernard's Abbey

The abbey was founded in 1243 in Lier, but was relocated to its current site in Hemiksem as early as 1246. As a daughter monastery of Villers-la-Ville, which in turn originated from the primary abbey of Clairvaux, its establishment was largely due to Dukes Henry I and Henry II of Brabant. In 1559, with the founding of the Diocese of Antwerp, the abbey became a commendam, and the bishop assumed the role of abbot. After a temporary abandonment during the Iconoclasm in 1578, it was again separated from the diocese in 1649. A large part of the complex was destroyed by fire in 1672. The abbey was dissolved in 1797 during the French Revolution.