Tourism in Zaventem
You’re now at the "gate of Europe". Of course, who speaks of Zaventem immediately thinks of the national airport. This airport has caused economic prosperity in the whole region. The domain of the airport covers an area of 250 ha and there is a hive of activity a whole week long. One can understand that this airport is a trump for employment in the area when you know that yearly 18.5 million passengers and more than 600000 ton goods take off. This airport has just been renewed and is known as one of the most modern airports of Europe. This is certainly worth while a visit. Zaventem is a great business centre with many companies. Urbanisation is widely spread but there are also many places where the green characteristics have been remained. Discover the pond of Ursele, now called "Mariadal", together with the surrounding park. "Hof Ter meren" was also part of the properties of the lords of Ursele. “Hof ter Meren” is still the name of a tavern in the centre of Zaventem. There are many walking paths between Woluwe, Sterrebeek, Nossegem and Zaventem and each neighbourhood has got a few green playgrounds. Out of the same concern for the conservation of green areas the authorities has foreseen little parks in the centre of the different residential quarters. The same pattern exists in Sterrebeek. The park of "Derscheid" forms a kind of passage between the different neighbourhoods and is a terrific place for a walk. Sterrebeek is especially known for its big hippodrome and its castles. Castle Ter Meeren has been built in 1865 by architect Jozef Schadde. The breugelproject mentioned this castle on its list of historic important buildings. Across the castle lays the "kasteelhoeve", now a famous restaurant. In Sint-Stevens-Woluwe the municipality opened the park Liekendael in 1988. This park covers an area of 60 a and is surrounded by a residential precinct and a rectory. On this place there would have stood a citadel in the water that together with a church and a few streets formed the core of the first village. Many cosy sitting corners were created here between the music kiosk and the play garden. Nearby one can pay a visit to the "heemmuseum de Veste" which holds a rich collection of old agricultural material. In all history books, Zaventem is also associated with the famous painter Antoon Van Dijck. Antoon Van Dijck was born in Antwerp in 1599 and stayed in Zaventem in 1629. Here, he fell in love with Isabella Van Opphem. The father of Isabella, who was a prominent gentleman, gave him a warm welcome. Soon, Antoon Van Dijck received the task to paint an altarpiece for the church. This painting is of course the famous painting of Sint-Maarten who divides his cloak in two from which he gave on e part to a poor beggar. He also painted "The Sacred Family" for the same church on which the holy Maria resembled very much at his beloved Isabella. Situated in the region Halle-Vilvoorde of the province Vlaams-Brabant, Zaventem consists out of 4 smaller villages Sterrebeek, Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Nossegem and Zaventem itself. Together they cover an area of 2762 ha with a total of 28004 inhabitants. Zaventem is situated near the capital of Brussels. The region is part of the table-land of Brabant with differences in relief from 30 and 95 m. There is one river, the Woluwe, which flows into the Zenne. Zaventem lays on the intersection of two important highways, the E 40 (Brussel-Luik-Leuven) en E 19 (Brussel-Mechelen-Antwerpen), and the ring of Brussels. There is little known about the origin of the name Zaventem. Probably the name refers to an old river. It used to be written “Saventa” and through various names Zaventem finally got his present name.