Lier Things to Do

I'm sure you have read this in my travelogue but I feel it is a must see whilst visiting Lier.

The statue here of the sheep and herder has an interesting story.

Aparently the residents of Lier have the nicname of 'Sheep's heads' due to the fact that in the old days they were asked to choose between being in charge of a cattle market or a University.

Leuven down the road got the Uni..... :o)

Lier is known as Little Brugge and that is because of the beautiful canels here.

I must say that having visited both places.....I found Lier's canels more quaint....and that is because they are not as touristy as the ones found in Brugge.

Lier will always be special to me for a number of reasons....and my first sighting of Europe canels is one of them.....and as you can see here...it was beautiful!!

You can't miss this icon when visiting Lier. The Zimmer Clock is quite something!!

It commands a prestige spot in the centre of town and demads your attention :o)

The interesting story of the Zimmertoren is on the website below.

3 more images

De Moedige Bootvissers will take you on a short (half an hour) canal boat upon the Kleine Nete, the original small river going through Lier but now kept between locked gates.
It is really nice and relaxing.

Making arrangements : Taverne 't Schaeckbert, Zimmerplein 12 te Lier, tel +32 (0)3 480 66 40.
The guide is the one sailing the boat but if you want to make a combined trip boat + guided city visit, you can contact the Tourist information centre of Lier and their guide will do both: guiding on board and in the city This is ok from 15 persons on. So you better see if you can come with a little group.

The Zimmer tower is a wonder of technic, not the tower itself, but the clock that was built buy the Lier clockmaker Louis Zimmer (1888-1970). He built this Jubilee clock for the world fair in 1939 at New York. You can see and visit this clock in the pavilion next to the tower.

It's almost inbeleavable what you can read on this clock, like off course the time and the time in different time zones, but also the tides, the seasons, the signs of the Zodiac and what to tell about the time of an comet that will return in 25.800 years (this is the slowest running clock in the whole world).

Lier: The Zimmer Tower (3)

On the right facade, one rediscovers a game of four bells and four robots: the youth, the adolescence, adult man and old person. One rediscovers equally represented some personages of the local literature.

In addition, at noon ringing, a procession composed from the representations of the Kings of Belgium as well as former Maire of Lier goes out of a door aside.

To the interior: various phenomena are explained: the tides, the eclipse, the stars spinning, ... (57 altogether)

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Sur la façade de droite, on retrouve un jeu de quatre cloches et quatre automates : la jeunesse, l'adolescence, homme adulte et vieillard . On retrouve également représenté quelques personnages de la littérature locale.

En outre, à midi sonnante, un cortège composé des représentations des Rois de Belgique ainsi que des anciens bourgmestres de Lier sort d'une porte de côté.

A l'intérieur divers phénomènes sont expliqués: les marées, les éclipses, les étoiles filants,... (57 au total)

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Lier: The Zimmer Tower (2)

The astronomical clock.

One there rediscovers: the hour of Greenwich, the moon location, the signs of Zodiacs, the sun course with location on Sundays, the days of the week, the earth and its meridians, the months,...

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L'horloge astronomique.

On y retrouve: l'heure de Greenwich, l'emplacement de la lune, les signes du Zodiaques, le cours du soleil avec emplacement des dimanches, les jours de la semaine, la terre et ses méridiens, les mois,...

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Lier: The Zimmer Tower

The Tower Zimmer formerly called Cornélius tower is a trace of the 2nd wall of walls and dates back to the 14th century. (last restoration in 1929)

In 1930, Louis Zimmer offers to his city the bells to which one it adds the astronomical clock the following year.

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La Tour Zimmer autrefois appelée Tour Cornélius est un vestige du 2ème mur de remparts et date du 14ème siècle. (dernière restauration en 1929)

En 1930, Louis Zimmer offre à sa ville le carillon auquel il ajoute l'horloge astronomique l'année suivante.

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