Mol, Belgium

Mol is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Mol. On January 1, 2010 Mol had a total population of 34,113 inhabitants. The total area is 114.26 km² which gives a population density of 299 inhabitants per km².^[2][3][4]

Mol is a popular holiday resort, with a number of lakes surrounded by woods. There are two main tourist lakes:

• Zilvermeer, which opened as a Provincial Park in 1959 and offers a white sand beach as well as facilities such as an outdoor playground and a underwater museum for divers.
• Zilverstrand: Originally, it had only on outdoor lake with a white sand beach. Later, a caravan park was built and mid 1990's an indoor swimming pool was created.

Furthermore, there is a Sun Parks holiday centre called "Kempense Meren" with an indoor swimming pool.

The museum of Jakob Smits is located in the former vicarage of Mol-Sluis. This displays works of the artist Jakob Smits (1855-1928) and other painters of the Molse School, who were attracted to the area by its rustic views including several windmills (of which only one remains).

In the north-east corner of Mol, near the Dutch border, lies the Norbertine Postel Abbey. Mol is also home to the SCK•CEN Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, the Flemish institute for technological research (VITO) and a European School. The first industries in Mol were the Vieille Montagne company and the explosive factory N.V. La Forcite. In 1872 the Sablières et Carrières Réunies (SCR), now Sibelco, was founded in order to extract the silica sand layers in Mol for industrial applications. The company became the global market leader in this sector with production sites all over the world.

The 15 chapels^[5] were built by Pater Helsen in 1815 with 14 co-workers of the region. It is a protected monument.

Municipality structure

The municipality of Mol is divided in different townships respectively named:

• Mol-Centrum;
• Mol-Donk;
• Mol-Ezaart;
• Mol-Ginderbuiten;
• Mol-Gompel;
• Mol-Heidehuizen;
• Mol-Millegem;
• Mol-Postel;
• Mol-Wezel.
• Mol-Rauw.

See the corresponding maps or zoom from here.

Famous born or raised inhabitants

• Tom Boonen, professional cyclist, 2005 World Road Race Champion.
• Filip Dewulf, tennis player, semi-finalist on the French Open.
• Kirsten Flipkens, tennis player, ITF Junior World Champion in 2003.
• Hadise Açıkgöz, former Pop Idol 2003 contestant, and now a singer.
• Joël Smets, former motocross world champion.
• Barbara Dex, singer.
• Tanja Dexters, former Miss Belgium (1998)
• Ann Van Elsen, former Miss Belgium (2002)
• Wilfried Peeters, ex-cyclist, now groupsleader of cyclingteam Quick-Step.
• Rob Peeters, cyclo-cross rider.
• Rob Teuwen, actor.
• Zjef Vanuytsel, artist.
• Guy Dufour Footballer.
• Edmond van Eetvelde († 8 December 1925), former diplomat and State Secretary, and the right hand to Leopold II of Belgium
• Charles de Broqueville († 5 September 1940), former prime minister
• Senne Rouffaer († 14 July 2006), actor and director.
• Johan Gielen (23 February 1968), professional DJ.
• Viktor Lazlo (7 October 1960), singer and actor
• Ann Lemmens (8 September 1980) TV presenter
• Guy Mortier (24 March 1973) journalist and TV personality
• Anne-Marie Ilie (9 March 1985) Miss Belgian Beauty 2007

Gallery

References

1. ^ Population per municipality on 1 January 2010 (XLS; 221 KB)
2. ^ Statbel.fgov.be (see Mol)
3. ^ Statbel.fgov.be
4. ^ Statbel.fgov.be
5. ^ 208erbos.be

External links

• Official website