Geertruidskerk
Before the Reformation, the Geertruidskerk was called the Sint Gertrudiskerk and was dedicated to Gertrud or Gertrudis of Nijvel and of Geertruidenberg (626-659). In 640, she founded an abbey - with her mother - in Nijvel, on the southern border of the Duchy of Brabant, and became abbess at the age of 21. When her father wanted to marry her off in 1640, she refused and fled. During this flight, she is said to have landed on the river Donge by boat at the height of a 'mountain'. She remained there for the rest of her life to meditate and founded a hermitage there. The travelling bishop Amandus is said to have built a chapel at that location. The city owes its name to this legend, the Berg van Geertruid: Geertruidenberg. However, archaeological research has so far only yielded traces of inhabitants from 350 years later. There is also no historical connection between the Abbey of Nijvel and Geertruidenberg.
