Kiewit () is a Belgian parish and village within the northernmost extension of the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

municipality of

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

. It also borders on the municipality of

Zonhoven Zonhoven (; ) is a municipality located in the middle of the Belgian province of Limburg located north of Hasselt and also borders Houthalen-Helechteren, Genk and Heusden-Zolder. It’s an urbanized municipality, in the edge area of Hasselt. The ...

to the north and

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

to the east, with

Kuringen Kuringen (; ) is a sub-municipality of the city of Hasselt located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. In 1971, Stokrooie was merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business t ...

, another part of Hasselt, to the west.

History

Until the 20th century, Kiewit was relatively uninhabited and was composed of open

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

s between the older settlements at Kuringen, Hasselt, Zonhoven, and Bokrijk. Kiewit is the section of these lands which was claimed by Hasselt. Kiewit became a parish within the Belgian Catholic church in 1927, and the population concentrated at first in the area around the parish church.

Transport

Kiewit is on the main road between Hasselt and

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, which cuts through the village. Kiewit also has its own train station situated in the south.

Sights worth seeing

* Kiewit airfield, the oldest

aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

* The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

(

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

) dedicated to

Saint Lambert Lambert of Maastricht, commonly referred to as Saint Lambert (; Middle Dutch: ''Sint-Lambrecht''; ; 636 – c. 705), was the bishop of Maastricht-Liège (Tongeren) from about 670 until his death. Lambert denounced Pepin's liaison with his mis ...

and dating from 1935 * Boundary marker ("paalsteen") dating to 1666 between

, and

Annual events

Pukkelpop Pukkelpop is an annual music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid- to late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland—adjacent to a dual carriageway called ''Kempische Steenweg''—in the v ...

* Rimpelrock

Nature and recreation

The Natuurdomein Kiewit (Nature domain) is in the east of Kiewit centred on an old manor house, and is a "nature centre" under the city of Hasselt with an area of about 100 hectares. It touches the Provincial domain of

Bokrijk The Bokrijk Provincial Domain (, ) is a park and museum complex near Genk, Province of Limburg in Belgium. It is known for its open-air museum which displays a large collection of historical buildings from across Flanders which presents the hist ...

, in

, and is also linked to it with bicycle paths. It has a children farm and a project to let

Galloway cattle The Galloway is a Scottish breed of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated during the seventeenth century. It is usually black, is of average size, is naturally polled and has a thick coat suitable for ...

maintain the grasslands.

Famous inhabitants

Willy Claes Willem Werner Hubert "Willy" Claes (; born 24 November 1938) is a Belgian politician who served as the eighth Secretary General of NATO, from 1994 to 1995. Claes was forced to resign from his NATO position after he was found guilty of corruptio ...

(born 1938), politician and former Secretary General of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

References

External links

Kiewit homepageThe local newsletter: KrisKrasKiewit
{{Populated places of Hasselt Populated places in Hasselt