Hoogstraten
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Hoogstraten is the northernmost municipality in Belgium. It is located in the Flemish region, has 20,386 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2012) and has the city rights. The town includes the villages of Hoogstraten, Sea, Meerle, Minderhout and Wortel.
Location
Hoogstraten is located in the north of Belgium and bordered on three sides immediately to the Netherlands. In the small town of Dreef is the northernmost point of Belgium. Turnhout is 15 kilometers (km) south-east, the Dutch city of Breda, 20 km north, 30 km southwest of Antwerp and Brussels, 67 km south-southwest.
Infrastructure
The next highway exits are located at Loenhout and sea at the Belgian motorway A1 / e 19, connecting the Antwerp and the Dutch cities of Breda and Rotterdam. In Turnhout and Kalmthout offers the nearest regional stations. Antwerp airport and the airports of Rotterdam and Eindhoven are the closest regional airports and the Brussels National Airport near the capital Brussels is an airport of international importance.
Attractions
- The late Gothic St. Catharina (Saint Catherine's Church ) from the 14th century has with its almost 105 -meter-high tower one of the highest church towers in Belgium.
- The Begijnhof was built in 1380 and consists of 36 houses and a baroque church. Since 1998 he is part of the UNESCO World Heritage " Flemish Beguine ".
Events
- Every second weekend in August, far from Hoogstraten held an Afro-Caribbean Open Air Festival.
Sons and daughters of the town
- John Braspennincx (1914-2008), Dutch cyclist
- Ludo Peeters ( born 1953 ), Belgian cyclist