In the Middle Ages, names were given to roads in the direction the road was headed. So with St Peter’s Church as the hub and the streets of Leuven like spokes on a wagon wheel (radiating outward), the major streets of Leuven were named: Naamsestraat, heads you in the direction of Namen; Tiensestraat headed you to Tienen; Diestsestraat to Diest; Mechelsestraat, Mechelen; Brusselsestraat to Brussels; Parijsestraat, to Paris. Further on, Tervursestraat to Tervuren (a suburb of Brussels)..
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 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. |