City: the Internet site of the city
of Mechelen says: "The oldest preserved document, which
mentions Mechelen for the first time under the name Machlines,
is a certificate of appreciation from 1008. The name of the
city was later changed to Machele, then Mechgelme and finally
in the 15th century to Mechelen. For a short period of time,
in the 16th century, Mechelen was the capital of the Netherlands.
The city later received the same status as Zeeland, Brabant,
Flanders and Holland. Not surprisingly, therefore, there are
so many fine protected historic monuments and churches. "
The city of Mechelen, located in the province of Antwerp,
is situated between the towns of Antwerp and Brussels. The
city numbers today more than 80,000 inhabitants.
The old Mechelen used to be surrounded by a town wall.
Immediately outside the wall were different suburbs. Hanswijk
was one of those old suburbs. Today the area belongs to the
town area of Mechelen.
