Just as a devout Muslim faces Mecca when praying, in medieval Catholic churches the priest would say Mass standing at the altar and facing the East (the Holy Land, Jerusalem) as a way of doing homage to this holy place.
The crying tree: a beautiful Sophora Japonica tree planted in the courtyard of the Atrecht College (a girls residence) in the 18th century is known as “the crying tree” because in those days the girls had a curfew of 7 p.m. which led to heartwrenching parting scenes by the tree.
That the crooked, wobbly looking roofs on many of Leuven's older houses is due to the fact that "green" lumber was used when they were built, and as it cured the green wood warped leaving the crooked, rolling roofs lines that are seen today.
That Noormannenstraat is the supposed site of a Viking encampment from where they began their siege of Leuven in 891 (Battle of Leuven). They were defeated by Arnulf of Carinthia, King of the Franks. The battle took place on the banks of the Dijle River near the Groot Begijnhof and was important in that it stopped further Viking incursion into Europe. As a nod to the past, there is a student residence named The Viking.
That the light purple and light green leaded windows seen on older homes was a way of approximating and imitating the stained glass windows of churches, thus avoiding a "window tax" levied on all windows except those colored windows of churches.
A native American (American Indian) Head carving can be found on the corner of the American College building at Naamsestraat and Karmelietenberg. The native head was included into the American college building to represent the history of the college, since the first seminarians who were instructed there were sent to the New World to minister to the Native American population. Louis Tobback has been mayor of Leuven of 15 years and has just recently won a new election so he will be around for still a few more. |