Although I regularly criticise the Michelin Green Guides, it's the Rough Guide that fails to do it justice to Dendermonde. Perhaps the reviewers caught the place on a bad day. It's understandable that they don't mention Sint Alexius' Begijnhof, since it's not famous like Sint Wijngaard's in Brugge, but they also fail to note the town's bustling squares and busy street life – so bustling that if you don't know where the Begijnhof is you might miss it entirely. Walking from the railway station, it's through a small archway on the left, just past the big church on the right.
I found out about the Begijnhof by accident because, as with Beselich, the local population had started a project to restore the place. So, when we returned to Mechelen and intended to visit some more Begijnhoven, it was natural to take the short train ride to Dendermonde. It was beautiful on our first visit, but on our return in 2003 it was great to see the restoration progressing (they were repairing and renewing the front doors). As with Brugge, the lawn and trees surrounded by the individual houses form a beautiful, peaceful oasis, but since Sint Alexius' is entered directly from a main shopping street, the contrast is even more apparent.
The Begijnhof was founded sometime before 1223 on a marsh on the edge of town, moving to its current site in 1288. It burned in the second half of the sixteenth century and was largely rebuilt during the Begijn revival of the early seventeenth century. Most of the houses date from that period, although the Begijnhof again suffered when the town was shelled in 1706.
Dendermonde has had something of a chequered history and the Begijnhon chapel was destroyed when the town was badly damaged during 1914, so the current chapel, featuring stained glass of Sint Begga and Sint Alexius, is fairly modern. The last Begijn died in 1977. Ernestine De Bruyne was born in 1907 and became Grand Mistress of the Begijnhof in 1939. In recent times a museum of Begijn life has been established. It's well worth a visit, but check the opening times if you're making a special visit.