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magisterdgg Says: Spent an interesting morning visiting the Abbey Church.Founded towards the end of the 10th century by Count Ansfried and his wife Hereswint, the original Benedictine convent developed into a secular order in the 12th century. At its peak, 20 female canons lived in the...
magisterdgg Says: Just wander about town, looking for interesting photos.Every turn offers a delightful shot; beautiful flower-filled gardens, nooks and crannies with picturesque shots, a small stream beside the town, whitewashed house on cobblestone streets.I found it so relaxing, just...
The streets, squares and alleys
Pavlik_NL Says: Every street, every alley and every square is a monument on itself. Here's what it is all about in Thorn, remembering the special history of this town when roaming around. Enjoy the special atmosphere along the terraces and maybe take a seat to enjoy a wonderful lunch or...
The abbey-church ... once seat of the high-abdis
Pavlik_NL Says: Thorn and surroundings were dominated by the abbey that was the actual seat of power in this principality. Special was that it was a "matriarchat" as the abdis (leader of the convent / abbey that was also ruler of this little "kingdom" that belonged to the Holy Roman empire...
nighthawk Says: Next to the chapel of Trinity, to the east, is the chapel of the Holy Lambertus.To this bishop martyr of Liege, founder Ansfrid once dedicated his abbey.In this chapel one can also see this triplet painting from the 16th century called 'The Virginity of the Holy Anna'.At the...
nighthawk Says: This painting is on the landing to the archive room. It depicts the adminsteration of rosaries (about 1645).It is an altar piece, and it shows Maria with Child administering rosaries to the people that surround them, among whom the emperor, the empress and their son (of the...
One of the two round arched windows
nighthawk Says: In the Roman crypt are two leaded glass windows made by Joep Nicolas. This is Ansfrid (founder church), right window.
Steps to the middle age part of the church
nighthawk Says: After entering the church we followed these steps down (to the right) and we came to the oldest part of this church. It is a Roman crypt were, in the Middle Ages, the little children were brought in and baptized, for in those days people believed children to be possessed by...
2 Opinions
Fletcher Hotel La Ville Blanche
5 Opinions
La Ville Blanche: Pretty outdoor cafe, with a great view
magisterdgg Says: The restaurant is right on the main street, across from the Abbey. They also own a hotel on site.The shaded inner courtyard (see photo), where we had coffe and dessert one day, offers a pleasant place to get away from the street.There are several dozen tables outside, with a...
Several pancakerestaurants in town: Choice out of 350 pancakes!
Pavlik_NL Says: Pancakes look like the only thing they have here, but though this is a delightfull dish, in the province Limburg (to which Thorn belongs) the people are knowing how to live life to the fullest. Bourgondian, as we call it. We enjoyed a pancake with a local beer and then you...
Lunchroom Housmans: Flan tard! Don t miss `Housmans!
nighthawk Says: The flan tard is delicious!And mr. Housman has had many prices for his flan tards so this isn t just an ordinary bakery ;-)
nighthawk Says: If you visit this lovely white town, better be prepared for the only way to see the middleage part of Thorn is on foot. The streets are narrow and besides that, if you were sitting in your car, you would not really see the village. So go to the tourist information center and...
Surrounded by parkingplaces, so come by car
Pavlik_NL Says: First I want to say that you have to get through Thorn on foot. One can rent "steps" (autopets) in a shop here, as well as bikes, but by foot you can explore the whole "white town" in a few hours time. The surrounding area is however also beautiful and worth visiting....
On a corner of the mainstreet a little shop drew our attention by the many wooden toys in the shopwindow. Immediately we went in, curious about what they exactly had to offer. We were pleasantly surprised about many little toys made of wood, among which we found a little wristwatch for Ilja, that was always eagerly playing with ours and mumbeling "tictac" continuously. Now her had his own and ... didn't want to wear it anyway (-:
Written Jun 29, 2003
The Roman Catholic past of the South
Pavlik_NL Says: Limburg (and Noord-Brabant) are the Roman Catholic provinces of The Netherlands. As straight through our little country runs the religious border between Protestantism and Catholicism, one can find a difference between the personality of the people (generally taken) as well....
The famous two harmonic orchestra's of Thorn
Pavlik_NL Says: The royal harmonic orchestra and the one named Saint Michael are the two musical groups that devide the Thorn inhabitants in two groups already for centuries. Both are of quite high classification and tour through The Netherlands, but also through Europe. The goats and the...
For foreigners that do their best to study some Dutch ... here's definately the place to be surprised about the language they use in daily life. Limburgian is one of the extreme dialects in The Netherlands (by the way, this small country has over 100 official dialects, not even counting the real language of the Frysians!). Limburgian dialect is influenced by German and French (as it is also bordreing these lingual groups). Now it's not that crossing the German border means stepping into another lingual area, as the Germans across the border speak as Limburgian as the Limburg people themselves (as well can be said from the Belgians in their province that is calles Limburg as well.
Limburgian by the way sounds softer, more melodious and friendlier then any other dialect in The Netherlands.
Simple example to show it's really different:
Kun je ook Limburgs praten?
Kast du auch Lemburgs kallen?
Just listen to the people sitting next to you on the terrace (that is ... if they don't speak any other worldlanguage as the seem to be tourists as well (-:
Written Jun 29, 2003
This is a tranquile place of real beauty. Along a little creek one walks out of the town. Green trees (willows) hang over a little creek in which the water runs fast and makes this wonderful sound. The cemetry is completely in the green outside the town's centre and sooooo peaceful. A nice place to turn around and go back into the village after spending a few minutes listening to the silence.
Updated Jun 29, 2003
Helpfulness
Belgium and the Southern provinces of The Netherlands have more connection with bicycle-racing then the rest of the country. Biking is popular overall, but racing and has found in the soft elevated lands - around Thorn as well - a large amount of fans. In summertimes you will see many - dressed in their sportshirts and bikingshorts - pass you by in full speed. Some even find it a sport to take as much as possible the "kinderkopjes"streets (typical stone used for the roads in ancient days). Obviously they have something with getting "good vibrations" all the time (-:
Written Jun 29, 2003
Favorite thing: On the square in front of the churchtower entrance is the small museum of Thorn. Here one can see the long history of this little town that used to be it's own independant miniature state. Very nice are the photo's in the gallery. It shows how things are now with another picture in the same place then (around 100 years ago). Little further a huge maquette shows the village as it is and here is also a nice slide-presentation about Thorn.
Written May 15, 2003
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Thorn, monumental town with great history
Thorn, a quite little town in the greens of South Limburg. Just a few hundred meters from the Belgian border. This little town has a very special gift. Given by it through history and the fact that so...
Delightful Quiet Town - A Photographer's Paradise
While living in Baexem, Limburg Province on a home exchange, I have visited the nearby town of Thorn. It's a great place to spend a few hours, particularly if you love to shoot photos. There are...
Thorn, also called the white village. Up to French took over in the 18th century, a wealthy convent village, ruled by female. Only female descandants from the fine noblesse were admitted to the...
Build your own Thorn page
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