The town hall was built in Rococo style and has a beautiful pediment which bears the coat of arms of the city. It was constructed from 1740 to 1745 by architect Van Baurscheit. The Rococo style continues inside the building and is best shown by the elegant staircase. Inside the town hall are works of art including several paintings, amongst others by Isidoor Opsomer, one of the most famous local painters.
Against the town hall stands the belfry tower. This important tower is the symbol of the power and the autonomy of the city (other important Flemish cities like Bruges, Ghent, Kortrijk, etc also have belfry towers). From the balcony of the tower the official city announcements were proclaimed. The tower itself dates from 1369, a time when the city of Lier became rather prosperous. Today, the belfry tower is the last remainder of what used to be the cloth hall, the symbol of the medieval economic expansion of the corporation of cloth workers. The tower is crowned with four little corner turrets. These turrets date only from 1911 and are an expression of the renovation style that was popular at the end of the 19th century, whereby old buildings were adapted to make them look genuinely medieval.
Model dedicated to the 'Heren van Lier'. #belfort #belfry #gemeentehuis #lier #lierre #mairie #stadhuis #town_hall
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