MECHELEN - OLVD : BELGIUM

*Location:

   O.L.V.-over-de-Dijlekerk
   Onze-Lieve-Vrouwestraat
     at Gebroeders Verhagenstraat
   Mechelen (Malines, Mechlin),
     Antwerpen, Belgium
   LL: N 51.02316, E 4.47815
Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Marc Knops
   Gasthuisveldstraat 19
   2800 Mechelen
   T: 015/20 10 07
   - and -
   Gustaaf Vander Weyden

*Contact:

   Dienst Toerisme
   Stadhuis
   Grote Markt
   2800 Mechelen
   T: 015/20 10 07

*Schedule:

   First & third Saturdays 1300

*Remarks:

   Original chime by Peter (III) vanden
   Gheyn.  In 1679, the church bought
   several old bells from St.Rombout's,
   making a total of 30, to which J.-B.
   Daems of Leuven added 2 in 1690.  Most
   were removed in 1798 to make cannon.
   Some were replaced by A.-L. vanden
   Gheyn (Leuven, 1819), A.-L.-J. van
   Aerschodt (Leuven, 1840) and P.-J.
   Segers (1842); all destroyed in WW II.
   A new peal of 5 (1 by M.Michiels Jr.,
   1947, + 4 by Horacantus/Eijsbouts,
   1962) forms basis for the carillon.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 50 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell (excluding sub-bourdon) is D# in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  5 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C C 48/(G )A#G   
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The whole instrument was installed in 1965
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen (except for 5)
   Prior history:
     In 1690, the instrument was enlarged to 32 bells
       by the makers cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was unknown
     In 1599, the instrument was begun with 11 bells
       by vandenGheyn 
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2014
*Links:

Descriptive article (in Dutch, with tower photo) from the VBV (Vlaamse Beiaard Vereniging)

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Vanden Gheyn bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
(The second phase of this work being an assortment of mostly single or unidentified bells, it is not indexed by foundry.)
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all traditional carillons in BE.

Index to all tower bell instruments in BE/Antwerpen.

*Status:
   This page was built from the database on  5-Nov-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2008/02/19
   and on technical data last updated on 2014/03/09
*Photos:

(none available)

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

[TowerBells Home Page] [Site data top page] [Credits and Disclaimers] [Feedback]

Please send comments or questions about this page to csz_stl@swbell.net.