View source for Dilbeek

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox Belgium municipality
| name            = Dilbeek
| picture         = De Viron Castle (DSC 2198).jpg
| picture-legend  = [[De Viron Castle]], serving as town hall
| map             = Dilbeek Flemish-Brabant Belgium Map.svg
| map-legend      = Location of Dilbeek in Flemish Brabant
| arms            = Blason Dilbeek.svg
| flag            = Dilbeek_Belgium.svg
| arrondissement  = [[Halle-Vilvoorde administrative Arrondissement|Halle-Vilvoorde]]
| nis             = 23016
| coordinates     = {{Wikidatacoord|Q641134|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
| pyramid-date    = 
| 0-19            = 
| 20–64           = 
| 65              = 
| foreigners      = 
| foreigners-date = 
| mayor           = Willy Segers ([[New Flemish Alliance|N-VA]])
| majority        = [[New Flemish Alliance|N-VA]], [[Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats|Open Vld]]
| postal-codes    = 1700–1703
| telephone-area  = 02
| web             = [http://www.dilbeek.be/ www.dilbeek.be]
}}
'''Dilbeek''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈdɪlbeːk|-|Nl-Dilbeek.ogg}}) is a [[Municipalities of Belgium|municipality]] in the [[Provinces of Belgium|province]] of [[Flemish Brabant]], in the [[Flemish region]] of [[Belgium]]. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, [[Groot-Bijgaarden]], [[Itterbeek]] (with [[Sint-Anna-Pede]]), [[Schepdaal]] (with [[Sint-Gertrudis-Pede]]), [[Sint-Martens-Bodegem]], and [[Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle]]. Dilbeek is located just outside the [[Brussels-Capital Region]] (and is part of the city's urban sprawl, contiguous with [[Berchem-Sainte-Agathe]], Moortebeek ([[Anderlecht]]) and [[Molenbeek-Saint-Jean]]) in the [[Pajottenland]], hence the local name ''Poort van het Pajottenland'' (Gate to the Pajottenland).

Even though Dilbeek is located in the [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|Dutch-language area of Belgium]], there is a French-speaking minority represented by 3 members on the 35-seat local council.<ref>[https://vlaanderenkiest.be/verkiezingen2018/#/gemeente/23016 Dilbeek - gemeenteraad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120205433/https://www.vlaanderenkiest.be/verkiezingen2018/#/gemeente/23016 |date=20 January 2020 }} (Municipal elections results, 2018)</ref> It is a mostly residential community with some preserved rural areas and some industrial zones. The [[Brussels Ring]] road (R0, part of [[European route E19|E19]]) bisects the municipality, with a major junction with the [[A10 motorway (Belgium)|A10 motorway]] (part of [[European route E40|E40]]) located within its boundaries.

==History==

===Medieval origins===
The life of [[Saint Alena]], the 7th-century martyr daughter of a lord of Dilbeek, was set in Dilbeek and [[Forest, Belgium|Forest (Vorst)]]. The historical facts of her life, however, are disputed.<ref>{{cite web |title=The legend of Saint Alena |language=Dutch |url=http://www.dilbeek.be/Legende.46.0.html |publisher=Dilbeek.be |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227205406/http://www.dilbeek.be/Legende.46.0.html |archive-date=27 December 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In [[Carolingian]] times, Dilbeek and its neighbouring villages were part of the [[pagus]] ''Bracbatensis''. This territory, ruled by the Lords of Aa in [[Anderlecht]], was integrated into the [[Brabant (landgraviat)|Landgraviate of Brabant]] by the counts of [[Leuven]] around 1085. The first mention of the name ''Dedelbeccha'' dates from 1075, while the name ''Bigardis'', later transformed into ''Groot-Bijgaarden'' (in French ''Grand Bigard''), dates from 1110. ''Bigardis'' was originally a dependency of the Abbey of Saint Bavo in [[Ghent]], but by 1125, nuns under the leadership of [[:fr:Wivine de Grand-Bigard|Saint Wivina]] had founded a religious community there. Around 1183, the landgraviate became the [[Duchy of Brabant]], within which Dilbeek remained as an independent parish until the [[French Revolution]].

===16th century until now===
The area's parishes belonged to the [[see of Cambrai]] until 1559 when they were placed under the administration of the [[Archbishop of Mechelen]]. Also in the 16th century, Dilbeek, Itterbeek and Sint-Martens-Bodegem were placed under the local rule of the Lords of [[Lennik|Gaasbeek]]. The following decades were marked by the wars that opposed [[Catholics]] and [[Protestants]], which resulted in the ruin of the Abbey of Groot-Bijgaarden. The final dismantlement and sale of the buildings occurred during the French regime in the 1790s.

==Events==
* Each of the six communes that make up the current municipality organizes several annual [[fair]]s and [[Kermesse (festival)|kermesses]].
* Every spring, a [[tulip]] festival takes place in Dilbeek.
* Each summer the ''Vijverfestival'' (Pond Festival), where Flemish bands perform on a floating stage, takes place at the pond behind the town hall in Dilbeek proper.

==Sights==
[[Image:Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 029.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Saint Anna's Church, Itterbeek|Church of Sint-Anna-Pede]], as painted by [[Peter Brueghel the Elder]] in ''[[The Parable of the Blind]]'']]

* The imposing [[Groot-Bijgaarden Castle|castle of Groot-Bijgaarden]] was built in 1640 around a 14th-century [[keep]]. Nearby is the Sint-Wivina domain, where ruins of the original abbey still stand.
* Dilbeek's local authority offices, also known as the [[de Viron Castle]], was built in 1863 in [[Tudor style architecture|Tudor-style]] on the ruins of a 14th-century fortification. One of the [[medieval]] towers, the ''Sint-Alenatoren'', can still be seen in the park surrounding the current building. On his visit to this fort, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] was reportedly served rabbit instead of his favourite [[hare]], which resulted in the nickname ''konijnenfretters'' (rabbit eaters) for the inhabitants of Dilbeek. Several other buildings of interest (farm, ice cellar, stagecoach building) can also be found in the park
* The rural communes contain numerous old farms, including ''Het Neerhof'', a 13th-century building that belonged to the abbey of [[Forest, Belgium|Forest]].
* The tower of the ''Sint-Ambrosiuskerk'' (church of Saint-Ambrose) dates from the same century.
* The main [[Saint Anna's Church, Itterbeek|church of Sint-Anna-Pede (Itterbeek)]] was the model used by [[Peter Brueghel the Elder]] in his 1568 painting ''[[The Parable of the Blind]]'' currently in [[Naples]]. The village now houses a Brueghel museum as well as a restored [[watermill]] dating from 1776.
* Dilbeek also houses an interesting tram museum, tracing the history of this local mode of transportation since its beginning in 1887.
* The village of Sint-Gertrudis-Pede (Schepdaal) is the location of Payottenland's only working watermill, a centuries-old building thoroughly renovated in the eighties and nineties.
* [[Brewery Angerik]], a microbrewery that brews [[ale]]s, [[lambic]] beers and a [[lager]].

==Famous inhabitants==
* [[Saint Alena]], Christian [[saint]] (died c. 640)
* [[Wivina (abbess)|Saint Wivina]], monastic foundress, 12th century.
* [[Romain Maes]], cyclist who won the 1935 [[Tour de France]] (1913–1983)
* [[Johan Anthierens]], journalist, publicist, critic, and writer (1937–2000)
* [[Goedele Liekens]], former Miss Belgium
* [[Urbanus]], a famous Flemish comedian was born and raised in Schepdaal.
* [[The Black Box Revelation|Black Box Revelation]], a garage-rock band formed in 2005 by Dilbeek natives Jan Paternoster and Dries Van Dijck.
* [[Remco Evenepoel]], Belgian cyclist nicknamed the "Schepdaal Cannibal".

==Twin cities==
* {{AUT}}: OberVellach, part of [[Hermagor-Pressegger See|Hermagor]]
* {{USA}}: [[Dalton, Georgia]]
* {{RSA}}: [[Franschhoek]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Official website|http://www.dilbeek.be}} Only available in [[Dutch language|Dutch]]

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Dilbeek
|N  = [[Asse]]
|NE = [[Sint-Agatha-Berchem]] ([[Brussels-Capital Region|BRU]])
|E  = [[Sint-Jans-Molenbeek]] ([[Brussels-Capital Region|BRU]])<br/>[[Anderlecht]] ([[Brussels-Capital Region|BRU]])
|S  = [[Sint-Pieters-Leeuw]]
|SW = [[Lennik]]
|W  = [[Ternat]]
}}
{{Dilbeek}}
{{Municipalities in Flemish Brabant}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dilbeek| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Flemish Brabant]]