Beguinage of Antwerp, Beguinage in Universiteitsbuurt, Antwerp, Belgium

The Beguinage of Antwerp occupies a walled site on Rodestraat, entered through a rounded brick archway with pale stone edging and a narrow tiled roof. Inside, brick houses with a stepped gable and capped chimneys stand around a courtyard; a taller range has an arched wooden door and semicircular turrets with conical slate roofs. The Sint-Catharinakerk, built in 1827, is a neo-Gothic church, not a Baroque one.

The beguinage began as Curtis Syon in the 13th century outside the city walls; the community left that site in 1544 for safety and settled in the Rodestraat. The present buildings date largely from the 16th century. The original church was destroyed in 1799, and the neo-Gothic Sint-Catharinakerk was built in 1827, probably under Pierre Bruno Bourla. The last beguine died in 1986.

The beguines were lay women who took vows of chastity and obedience without joining a religious order; Antwerp's community is recorded as the Curtis Syon in the 13th century. The last beguine died in 1986, ending more than seven centuries of life in the Rodestraat enclosure. The garden now holds fruit trees and a pond.

The site is open to visitors on most days and easy to explore on foot through the lanes and courtyards. Since some of the houses are still home to residents, it is good practice to keep noise low and move through the narrower passages with care.

The last beguine of Antwerp died in 1986, ending a community that had existed since the 13th century as Curtis Syon. The site is not on the UNESCO World Heritage list, unlike other Flemish beguinages. The garden now has fruit trees and a pond.