Leuven
This article is about the city of Leuven, for the animal of the same name see Lion, for other meanings see Leuven (disambiguation). Leuven is a redirection to this article, for the person Adolphe de Leuven see there.
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Leuven (Dutch
, French Louvain) is a Belgian city in the region of Flanders. It is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant and the capital of the district of Leuven. Leuven has 101,624 inhabitants as of January 2019.
Leuven is best known for its university, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and for its cityscape, which features some of the finest examples of Flemish architecture, including the Gothic Town Hall and the Old Market Square. Leuven is also the headquarters of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewing group.
Geographical location
Leuven is situated about 20 kilometres east of Brussels on the river Dijle in the province of Flemish Brabant. The municipalities of Rotselaar, Holsbeek, Lubbeek, Bierbeek, Oud-Heverlee, Bertem, Herent and Haacht border Leuven (clockwise, starting in the north).
Since January 1977, Leuven has comprised the sub-municipalities of Heverlee (21,429 inhabitants), Leuven (30,169), Kessel-Lo (27,476), Wijgmaal (3,505) and Wilsele (9,358).
Name origin
The name "Leuven" used today first appears in writings from the 16th century. Before that, the forms "Loven", "Lovenne" and "Loevenne" were mainly used. The origin of the name "Leuven" is uncertain. Most likely, the name "Loven" combines the two words Lo (forest) and Ven (swamp), so that a swampy forest in the area is marked as characteristic. This is supported by the location of the town in the formerly wet and swampy Dijle valley and the proximity of the settlement to the forest at that time.
In addition, there are numerous legendary explanations. For example, the name "Loven" is said to go back to a Scottish prince named "Lupus", who is said to have founded the town, but there is no evidence for this. According to another approach, the name "Loven" derives from the fact that in former times a temple stood on the Löwener area, in which a pagan god was worshipped (the Dutch "loven" means "to praise, to extol"). However, no evidence can be found for this approach either. There are also speculations that the name Loven was brought from Scandinavia by the Normans, then first given to the Dijle and then passed on to the neighbouring settlement.
