Sint-Agatha-Rode

• The village of St. Agatha-Rode was designated a protected village (beschermd dorpsgezicht) in 1979. • The Gothic Church of Saint Agatha was founded in the 13th century. It has been rebuilt many times – in 1578, for example, it was burnt by religious extremists. The church tower is also in early Gothic style with a chiming clock built by the Namur clockmaker Lion in 1738 and which was restored in 1993. Many of the stained glass windows were blown out when the nearby Dijle bridge was blown up during the Second World War The church and the cemetery wall were designated as protected buildings in 1979. • In front of the church there is a plane tree that was planted at the time of the Belgian independence in 1830 is called the Liberty Tree (Vrijheidsboom). The tree was also designated as a protected monument in 1979. ==Scenery==

• The Grootbroek is a 30 hectare low-lying wetlands nature reserve in the Dyle valley. The Groetbroek lake is shallow and used by waders, herons, and egrets particularly in the Spring and Autumn migration periods. These and other birds can be viewed from a wooden observation building overlooking the lake. This hide contains detailed information on the wildlife in the reserve. The Groetbroek was designated a protected area (landschap) in 1978. This area is home to many kinds of bats - in particular Daubenton's Bat which feeds at night on flies, midges and water bugs. ==History==

• Remnants of prehistoric ice-age people (fire bricks, shards and blades) have been found in Sint-Agatha-Rode where the Laan and Dijle rivers merge. • Sint-Agatha-Rode lies near the former major Roman road between Gembloux and Mechelen. A spur from this road ran through Sint-Agatha-Rode along a street now called Oude Waversebaan. The remains of a Gallo-Roman villa and fragments of Roman pottery were found in 1907 • In the 11th century, the Counts of Leuven cut down the forests in the area and built a chapel to Saint Agatha, from which the name of the village is taken. ("Rode" means a clearing in a wood or forest in English beside the Dijle river which was, for a time, the residence of Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of Brabant, widow of Henry II, Duke of Brabant, in the 13th century. ==Notes==