The best MTB trails around Jodoigne

Very beautiful environment. A rest from all the mud.

As you immediately notice in the picturesque setting of this chapel, the hamlet of Hédenge has retained its rural character. Besides the large farms, this Saint-Feuillen Chapel bears witness to this. The chapel is situated on the highest point of the commune and was once surrounded by a cemetery enclosed by walls and hedges. Today, it is a small park with benches and views to relax with the chapel as a backdrop. The chapel itself is a beautiful Gothic building from the 14th or 15th century with a tower in Gobertange. In the 16th century, a short nave was added, and in the 19th century, a sacristy was added, as evidenced by an inscription. It is thought that this church, formerly called Mont des crânes, may have been an old mother parish, perhaps even older than "l'autre église" (the other church), after which the commune to which Hédenge belongs was named. Saint-Feuillen led an Irish religious community that came to Belgium in the seventh century and played an important role in the Christianization of the southern part of our country. An information board with this and more information is available on-site.

The architect, Emile Coulon, is also the architect of the Saint-Lambert church in Jodoigne and the Saint-Sulpice church in Beauvechain.

The current church of Saint-Jean-Geest, dedicated to Saint George, was built in 1870-71. The old one dated from the Gothic period. It consisted of a nave with side aisles, a transept, and a choir. The latter consisted of a single bay and a three-sided apse. In this church, which had undergone numerous restorations, only one truly archaeological detail was noted: a beautiful Gothic-style piscina [...]. The high altar was dedicated to Saint George, and the side altars were placed under the invocation of the Holy Trinity and the Assumption of the Virgin. Three bells hung in the tower. In April 1870, a new church began to be built a little further into the center of the town, designed by the architect Coulon. It was built in the Renaissance style and presents the form of a basilica topped by three apses of unequal size. Each apse has three blind sides, except that the choir has an additional large bay; behind the lateral apses extend two sacristies. The naves form five bays and are separated from each other by two rows of columns supporting arched arcades; the vaults, like that of the choir, are cross-ribbed, and the middle nave, higher than the lateral naves, receives daylight through a second row of windows. The facade of the church is completed by two half-gables, each pierced by an arched window; here, on the left, are the baptismal font; on the right, a repository or refuge. Buttresses support the façade, and pilaster buttresses support the other parts of the building, which was completed during the summer of 1871. Brick was used, except that white stone from France and Gobertange was also used for the façade and tower. Source and more information: https://www.jodoigne.be/jodoigne/information/saint-jean-geest

The church of Saint-Jean-Geest is not dedicated to this saint, as one might think, but to Saint George. Since the thirteenth century, it was indebted to the abbey of Aywières. But the tithes and the revenues of the parish were disputed for a long time. The current church was built in 1870-1871. (Ville de Jodoigne)

Former chapel of the round oak near a leprosarium which has now disappeared.

Many fine gravel/field roads that can unfortunately turn into open-air swimming pools when it rains a lot.

Pleasant gravel roads around the chapel. If there is a lot of/prolonged traffic, huge puddles will form over the entire width of the road, so it is not always recommended