The legend of the Goddess Flora statue in Ekeren

According to the legend, the daughter of the lord of Veltwijck fell in love with a simple servant working in the castle where she lived. The father did everything to stop his virgin daughter to be deflowered by the servant and out of despair he imprisoned her in one of the towers of the Veltwijck castle and dismissed the servant.

The daughter got very depressed and missed her lover so much that she jumped past her jail window into the pond surrounding the castle and drowned.


As a sign of mourning, her father wanted to put a statue in the park of his castle remembering his daughter. He did not want the image of the statue to resemble the image of his daughter because out of shame he could not face her anymore. So he got the idea to make a statue of the Goddess Flora. Because just like the Goddess Flora, his daughter loved flowers and she could spend hours walking by the flowerbeds of the castle. The father also wanted the procession to come through the park and castle every year and walk past his daughter's statue.


And the procession did go through the park. When the procession stepped under the gatehouse, the tower bell was sounded. The last time that the procession walked through the park was in 1966. But sometimes you can still hear the tower bell, all do it has been removed.

More about the Veldwijck Castle.


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