St. Bernard's Abbey, Cistercian monastery in Hemiksem, Belgium

St. Bernard's Abbey is a long grey stone building with a dark slate roof and a central tower. The tower has a square clock stage, a domed top with columns and a cross, rising above dormer windows; the facade has arched ground-floor windows, rectangular upper windows and a projecting entrance with a curved pediment. The western tower reaches 42 m.

Founded in 1243 with support from Duke Henry II of Brabant and confirmed by Pope Urban IV, the abbey was named after Bernard of Clairvaux. A fire in 1672 destroyed most buildings, leading to reconstruction in the late 17th and 18th centuries, including the 42-meter western tower. The community was expelled in 1797, the church demolished, and the monks eventually moved to Bornem Abbey in 1836.

The abbey is named after Bernard of Clairvaux, and its abbots held the lordship of Hemiksem from 1243, with rights over Puurs, Westmalle and Zoersel and seats in the States of Brabant. Monks are thought to have helped develop clay extraction in the Rupel region for brickmaking; the term paepsteen recalls that religious involvement. Today the north wing holds the local history museum Omtrent den Hover and the Gilliot & Roelants tile museum occupies the long central wing.

Today the site houses municipal offices, a police station, and a local history museum available to visitors. The best way to explore is to walk the grounds while respecting any areas marked as restricted to authorized personnel.

After its religious dissolution, the site was repurposed as a naval hospital and later as a correctional facility. These successive transformations left visible marks on the buildings and their internal arrangements.