The old abbey

The oldest remaining part of the early 12th century Benedictine Abbey is the Gothic pointed arch gate on Minneveldstraat. It still contains the original oak entrance gate, studded with wrought iron bands and nails. The sandstone gatehouse was expanded and rebuilt in brick in the 18th century and perhaps also in the 19th century. In the 19th century it was used as a town hall for a while. In the abbey, the famous 'Charter of Kortenberg' was signed in 1312 by Duke Jan II.

Currently - in the summer of 2020 - they run a summer bar.

Kortenberg Abbey was located on the old Curtenbergh, now Eikelenberg. According to tradition, a hermitage was founded on the mountain by a devout lady named Duva ("Dove", also called "Columba"). Soon she gathered a circle of clergy around her. They lived in small houses grouped around a church. A charter from 1095 attests to the gift of the altar by Walcher, bishop of Cambrai. Count Godfried I of Louvain and thirty prominent noblemen lent their support to this. The sisters placed themselves under the protection of Our Lady and Saint Amand.