Lier Things to Do

The Zimmer square is a small square, partly car-free, where it is great to have a drink or lunch on one of the many terraces when the sun is out. On this square, you will find the Zimmer tower on one side and the prisoner's gate on the other side. The square used to be docks, and locals still refer to it as the "quay". It's the main nightlife area of the city.

Have a better look at the tower of the church. It was supposed to have a pointy roof, but because of lack of money the tower could not be finished. So a small roof was put up just to close it. The locals call the tower the pepper mill now, guess why?

On the right side, in the top of the Zimmer tower you can see four statues. The figures represent famous artists from Lier. Every 15 minutes they ring a bell.
At noon, you can see statues of the Belgian kings and the mayors of the town parade (behind the red door).

Let's have a closer look on the beautiful clock on the front of the Zimmer tower.

You can not only see the time of day but also other indications of time such as the signs of the zodiac, the lunar cycle, the solar cycle, the days of the week, the age and phases of the moon, the globe with the meridians, the 12 months, the eternal dates, the seasons and the tidal waves in Lier.

Enter the beguinage through the monumental blue stone gate. Above the gate you will see a terracotta statue of Saint Begga in a round-arched niche and in a niche on the left side of the gate stands a wooden statue of Our Lady of Remedy.

The gate was built in the late 14th century and was part of the town wall. Later on, between the second half of the 16th century and 1930 the building was used as a prison, hence the name.

On the side of the beguinage, in a niche above the passage stands a statue of Saint Margarita.

The red building left of the gate is a beautiful building in eclectic style from 1903. It is a home of rest for the elderly.

In the middle of town is where the St. Gummarus church is located. But you don't need to look for long because its tower can be seen from far away.

It took two hundred years to build this church. Building started in the late 14th century and wasn't finished until 1625. The church is an example of Brabantine High Gothic.

The tower in its present form is from around 1930. The tower is named after Louis Zimmer. He was born in a simple family and didn't study. Nevertheless he became an outstanding clockmaker. The Jubilee clock and the Astronomic Studio were way ahead of their time. The miracle clock of Zimmer is the slowest moving mechanical clock in the world. It takes 25800 years for one turn.

The tower is actually older, before Zimmer used it for his clock it was called Corneliustower. It is not sure when it was built, but it was part of the 14th century citywall. It was ruined and on the nomination to be torn down in 1930. But when Zimmer gave his Jubilee clock to the city it was tought to be the perfect place to put it. Architect Careels rebuilt the tower.

The clock has 13 faces : the official Greenwich Mean Time, the lunar cycle, the signs of the zodiac, the solar cycle, the 7 days of the week, the globe with the meridians, the 12 months, de eternal dates, the seasons, the tidal waves in Lier, the age and the phases of the moon.