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The Duke of Alva

The Town Seal of Lier

Archeological excavations (during which numerous coin-treasures were discovered ) have shown that a Gallo-roman habitat existed here thanks to its strategic situation on the confluence of the two rivers Nete (the large and the small Nete).

The city was first mentioned in official documents in the 12th century. In the 13th century the small city, with its fertile soil, received a city wall and a magistrate, as sign of its economic prosperity. In the course of the 14th century, the duke of Brabant granted Lier the right to organize a cattle market.  By the end of the 1300's the cloth industry made the city so prosperous that a new city wall was constructed. In 1367 the new cloth hall became the visible sign of the importance and power of the corporation of the cloth traders.

Lier, however, missed its chance to become the most important intellectual center of the southern low countries. In 1425 duke Jan IV of Brabant, gave Lier the chance to choose between a sheep market and the installation of a university. Afraid of problems with students, the people of Lier turned down  the offer of receiving a university and opted for the sheep market.(Since then, their nickname is "sheepheads" !).  The city of Leuven, was less hesitant and opted for the university. Leuven has since then become the seat of the oldest catholic university in the world since 1425 (The Catholic University of Louvain).

Like many other cities in the low countries, Lier suffered many destructions and plunderings in the troublesome 16th century.  In 1567, the troops of the Duke of Alva, pillaged the town. After the iconoclasm (the destruction of the gothic statues and paintings by protestants), the counter-reformation brought peace and a new intellectual development.  An example of this can be seen in the presence of a Rubens painting in the Saint Gummarus church.

The surroundings of Lier are known for vegetable production, but nowadays the city is also known for the presence of industrial sites on the eastern bank of the river Nete. It is also a, although less-known, tourist spot on the road to Antwerp and the "Kempen" region

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