Groot-Bijgaarden is a village and deelgemeente

Deelgemeente

A deelgemeente is a subdivision of a gemeente in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Belgium:...

 of Dilbeek.

Toponomy

The name Bijgaarden is derived from the Germanic word for enclosure. The appellation "Great" (Groot) was attached to distinguish it from the smaller Klein-Bijgaarden nearby, now in the municipality of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

Sint-Pieters-Leeuw , is a Dutch-speaking municipality of Belgium located in the province of Flemish Brabant .The municipality comprises the towns of Oudenaken, Ruisbroek, Sint-Laureins-Berchem, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw proper and Vlezenbeek. On January 1, 2006 Sint-Pieters-Leeuw had a total population...

.

History

The earliest record of Groot-Bijgaarden is in the 12th century, when it appears as Bigardis. This derives from the house of Bijgaarden. They made various contributions to the abbeys of Affligem

Affligem

Affligem is a municipality located some west-north-west of Brussels in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, not far from the town of Aalst and the important railway junction of Denderleeuw....

 and Groot-Bijgaarden. As a result of different marriages, the village come into the hands of the Veele Family, an important family from Brussels.

After many donations, Groot-Bijgaarden was publicly sold to the counts of Königsegg-Erps in the second half of the 14th century.

It is a former municipality in the province

Provinces of Belgium

Belgium is divided into three regions, two of them are subdivided into five provinces each.The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Belgian Constitution...

 of Flemish Brabant

Flemish Brabant

Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also completely surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. Since 1977 it is a subdivision (deelgemeente

Deelgemeente

A deelgemeente is a subdivision of a gemeente in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Belgium:...

) of the municipality of Dilbeek

Dilbeek

Dilbeek is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek , Schepdaal , Sint-Martens-Bodegem, and Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle...

.

Geography

Groot-Bijgaarden is situated between Dilbeek

Dilbeek

Dilbeek is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek , Schepdaal , Sint-Martens-Bodegem, and Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle...

 and Zellik

Zellik

Zellik is an urbanised town with over 8,000 inhabitants in the municipality of Asse, in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium. As a suburb on the northwest edge of Brussels, it is separated from the rest of the agglomeration by the R0 ring road around the city...

. As of 31 December 2010 the population of Groot-Bijgaarden was 7591.

Attractions

• Groot-Bijgaarden Castle: rebuilt castle, where an annual flower show is held in spring.
• Saint-Wivina
  Wivina
  Wivina was a Benedictine abbess. Born in Oisy, France, she refused all offers of marriage, becoming, aged 23, a hermitess at Groot-Bijgaarden, near Brussels. She later accepted land from Count Godfrey of Brabant and built a convent and served as its first abbess.-References:...
  
  Benedictine nunnery: founded in 1125, grew strongly thanks to various donations, sold publicly during the French Revolution.
• Sint-Egidius Church: built in 1776, rebuilt in 1950 after a hit by a German V2 during the Second World War