Hasselt, Limburg Province, Flanders, Belgium

🇧🇪 Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The Hasselt municipality includes the original city of Hasselt, plus the old communes of Sint-Lambrechts-Herk, Wimmertingen, Kermt, Spalbeek, Kuringen, Stokrooie, Stevoort and Runkst, as well as the hamlets and parishes of Kiewit, Godsheide and Rapertingen. Both the Demer river and the Albert Canal run through the municipality. Hasselt is located in between the Campine region, north of the Demer river, and the Hesbaye region, to the south. On a larger scale, it is also situated in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion.

History Hasselt was founded in approximately the 7th century on the Helbeek, a tributary of the Demer river. During the Middle Ages it became one of the free cities of the county of Loon (which had borders approximately the same as the current province of Limburg). It was first named in a document in 1165. In 1232 Arnold IV, Count of Loon gave the city the freedoms like those enjoyed in Liège. Even though the city of Borgloon was the original capital of Loon, Hasselt was to become the biggest city thanks to its favourable setting, and the proximity of the count's castle at Herkenrode in Kuringen. In 1366 the county of Loon came under the direct rule of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and remained so until the annexation by France in 1794.

During the First French Empire, after the French revolution, the city of Maastricht became the capital of the French Department of the Lower Meuse. This comprised not only the area of the modern province of Limburg in Belgium, but also what is now the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, all of what is now Belgium became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. During this time, it was King William I who confusingly re-named the Lower Meuse department after the medieval Duchy of Limburg. That Duchy was in fact named after Limbourg on the Vesdre river, now in the Liège province of Belgium, which had never encompassed Hasselt or Maastricht. Belgium split from the Netherlands in 1830, but the status of Limburg was only resolved nine years later in 1839, with the division of Limburg into Belgian and Dutch parts. Hasselt became the provisional capital of the Belgian province of Limburg. In ecclesiastical terms Belgian Limburg became an independent entity from the Diocese of Liège only in 1967, and Hasselt became the seat of the new Diocese of Hasselt.

**Town centre ** The centre is mostly car-free and contains a number of historical buildings. Among the oldest buildings in the town centre are the St. Quentin's Cathedral (11th to 18th centuries) and the "Herkenrode Abbey refuge house" (1542). The Grand Place and the nearby streets are lined with restaurants brasseries, cafes and taverns.

The Demerstraat and the Koning Albertstraat are the most important shopping streets. In the Kapelstraat and the Hoogstraat are expensive shops with the most famous brands. Another major religious building, besides the cathedral, is the Virga Jesse Basilica. The churches must cede domination of the skyline of the city to the modern twin towers of the "TT-wijk", however. In 2003, the renovation of this complex, now including a shopping mall and a hotel, gave the centre a new boost. In 2004, Hasselt was the first city to receive the title "most sociable city of the region of Flanders", and has since claimed the title of "Capital City of Taste".

Economy With 3,000 employees, the Jessa Hospital in Hasselt is the city's biggest employer with 2 health care campuses and one logistical campus. Cegeka Group, a European provider of IT solutions, services and consultancy is also one of the city's largest employers generating a turnover of €744 million. The city also provides for a unique ecosystem for start-ups, scale-ups and major companies through its Corda Campus, surrounded by government organizations and research institutions. Currently, 5,000 people work in 250 companies over a land area of 9 acres, formerly being occupied by Philips. By 2030, a planned investment of €150 million at the site should generate employment for 7,500 people in 350 companies on a lade area of 14 acres.

Transport Hasselt is at the junction of important traffic arteries from several directions. The most important motorways are the European route E313 (Antwerp-Liège) and the European route E314 (Brussels-Aachen). The old town of Hasselt is enclosed by 2 ring roads. The outer ring road serves to keep traffic out of the city centre and main residential areas. The inner ring road, the "Green Boulevard", serves to keep traffic out of the commercial centre, which is almost entirely a pedestrian area. There are also important traffic arteries to Tongeren, Sint-Truiden, Genk, and Diest.

The city lies within approximately an hour's drive from the airports of Brussels, Liège, Antwerp, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, and Düsseldorf. Within a three-hour radius, the major hubs of Paris and Frankfurt, can be reached. Small private aircraft can land in Hasselt itself, on the airfield of Kiewit.

The city has a major railway station being Hasselt railway station. InterCity trains link the city to major Belgian centres such as Antwerp, Liège, Brussels and Leuven, and also to Belgium's national airport in Zaventem.

Bus Hasselt made public transport by bus zero-fare from 1 July 1997 and bus use was said to be as much as "13 times higher" by 2006.

In 2013, the subsidies were reduced, resulting in a 60 euro-cents fare per ride. The plan for a new, attractive bus network in Hasselt was influenced by transport minister Eddy Baldewijns, who created an integrated transport policy framework in the middle of 1996 in which public transport was allocated a primary role. The city of Hasselt was one of the first cities to subscribe to the plan. Mayor Steve Stevaert proposed to give absolute primacy on the city's Green Boulevard to public transport. The mobility policy in Hasselt developed into an example of cooperation between the bus line, the government and the city of Hasselt, under the motto "the city guarantees the right of mobility for everyone".

Following the introduction of the new zero-fare policy, the usage of public transport immediately increased by 800–900% and has remained high, being currently more than 10-fold compared to the time of the old policy.

Attractions • The Abbey and Refugehuis of Herkenrode in Kuringen • Kiewit Airfield (recreational) • The Japanese gardens, the largest in Europe • The National Bank building, by architect Henri Van Dievoet. • St. Quentin's Cathedral • The Virga Jesse Basilica • National Jenever Museum • The Borrelmantje and the Borrelvrouwtje, referring to the history of Hasselt jenever • The beguinage • The old prison of Hasselt, now housing Hasselt University • Versuz, the biggest club of Belgium • The Hasselt Fashion Museum • The Limburgish lavender farm • Chocolate House Boon • The Colonel Dusart square • The House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture - Z33 • The World War II landscape remains of Tommelen, known as ‘bommekoëter’ or bomb craters in the local dialect, overlooked by an observation tower • The Flanders Nippon Golf club, originally built to attract Japanese investors in the 1970s together with the Twin Towers (TT) district

Events • The Virga Jesse festival, featuring a Procession of the historic wooden statue of infant Jesus with Mary, is celebrated every seven years, most recently in August 2010. • The yearly "Jeneverfeesten" celebrate the history of the jenever beverage in Hasselt. • Hasselt celebrates Carnival, but at a slightly different date than most places. • Many events take place in the Ethias Arena, the largest arena in Belgium. • Kiewit is the location of the yearly Pukkelpop (Pimplepop) festival, one of Europe's largest alternative music festivals with over a hundred concerts, at the end of August in the suburb of Kiewit. Rimpelrock (Wrinklerock), a festival with music for an older audience, is held at the same location, one week earlier. • Like in most Belgian cities, there is an annual Kermesse, on a date associated with the local church's patron saint, in this case Saint Lambert, which takes place in September. • The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was held in Hasselt. • The Grand Prix van Hasselt is a cyclo-cross race held in November which is part of the BPost Bank Trophy.

Gastronomy Hasselt brands itself as "the city of taste" and is known for its famous Hasselt gin and speculaas, as well as the Limburgish pie and more recently its chocolate.

Rail Hasselt railway station run by NMBS is near the city centre, outside the innermost "Binnenring". The station is an IC station, which means there are several connections each day with important Belgian cities.

Light rail In February 2007, a plan was launched for the construction of an international light rail connection between Hasselt and Maastricht (Hasselt – Maastricht tramway). Agreements between the relevant governments were reached in June 2008 and December 2011. The line will reduce the current travel time of 61 minutes by bus to only 36 minutes. Construction should have started in 2014, with the line expected to go into service in 2017. The construction eventually got delayed several times due to problems with the Wilhelminabrug in Maastricht, concerns about the profitability and numbers of passengers making use of the planned line and opposition from the Hasselt city council on the planned route through the city. The Flemish government eventually pulled the plug on the project, with various Dutch governments reporting to have spent more than €20 million without any major construction. The line might now be replaced by a so-called electric "trambus" system. However, concerns were raised too as the new alternative might not fulfill the cross-border high-quality public transport needs of the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg.

Education Hasselt has two university colleges: University College PXL and University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL). These offer courses in healthcare, social work, art, commercial sciences and teacher training, among others.

There is also Hasselt University, with a campuses in Hasselt and the neighbouring town of Diepenbeek. Hasselt University cooperates with Maastricht University, including in the Transnational University Limburg (tUL), and with Eindhoven University of Technology. In Hasselt, over 22,000 students pursue higher education.