Oude Geldenaaksebaan - Historic road

A quiet country road along old farms goes straight through the landscape, but sometimes disappears in sunken roads.
These bits of sunken roads are charming. Many hikers and cycling enthusiasts appreciate this piece of historic road.
This road from Leuven to Geldenaken (Jodoigne) was for centuries an important route for soldiers, merchants, clergy and noble ladies and gentlemen.

History in a nutshell:
The Oude Geldenaaksebaan was part of the historic main road between Leuven and Geldenaken or Jodoigne that ran southwards over the various village coulters. The road connects to the Nieuwe Geldenaaksebaan and the cobbled Bevekomsestraat and is thus part of the 'Grand Chemin' as stated on the Villaret map. An undated map indicates this road as 'voetwegh' from Geldenaken to Leuven when the road was clearly not yet paved. This footpath is also mentioned on a 17th-century map from the map book of the Park Abbey in Heverlee.

The cobbled section is recognized as landscape heritage. The Oude Geldenaaksebaan leads from the hamlet of Bet past Mareveld southwards and changes into the Nieuwe Geldenaaksebaan towards Mollendaal. It is a mixed cobbled road constructed in half-brick bond with an alternation of porphyry, Petit Granit and Tiense quartzite. The cobbled road has a reasonably flat profile and was recently reconstructed and provided with sewerage and drainage channels. In a limited number of places, there are still kerbs in Petit Granit. The cobbled road is briefly interrupted and continues as an unpaved sunken road to change into a cobbled road again at the intersection with the Smisstraat.In the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, many previously unpaved connecting roads were cobbled to improve driving comfort. The Oude Geldenaaksebaan had lost its importance in the 19th century in favour of the road that passed through the centre of Bierbeek and was probably not paved until around the middle of the 20th century. The section of road that gave access to the Bergenhof reclamation farm was the first to be paved. The rest of the road only served as a loading road for the surrounding agricultural land and was only paved in the 1970s in function of the increasing development.Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Kasseiweg Oude Geldenaaksebaan, id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/307633

Where the world still stands still...