Dilbeek (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈdɪlbeːk] ) is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pede), Sint-Martens-Bodegem, and Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle. Dilbeek is located just outside the Brussels-Capital Region (and is part of the city's urban sprawl, contiguous with Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Moortebeek (Anderlecht) and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean) in the Pajottenland, hence the local name Poort van het Pajottenland (Gate to the Pajottenland).
Dilbeek
Every spring, a tulip festival takes place in Dilbeek.
Each summer the Vijverfestival (Pond Festival), where Flemish bands perform on a floating stage, takes place at the pond behind the town hall in Dilbeek proper.
Sights
The imposing castle of Groot-Bijgaarden was built in 1640 around a 14th-century keep. Nearby is the Sint-Wivina domain, where ruins of the original abbey still stand.
Dilbeek's local authority offices, also known as the de Viron Castle, was built in 1863 in Tudor-style on the ruins of a 14th-century fortification. One of the medieval towers, the Sint-Alenatoren, can still be seen in the park surrounding the current building. On his visit to this fort, Charles V was reportedly served rabbit instead of his favourite hare, which resulted in the nickname konijnenfretters (rabbit eaters) for the inhabitants of Dilbeek. Several other buildings of interest (farm, ice cellar, stagecoach building) can also be found in the park
The rural communes contain numerous old farms, including Het Neerhof, a 13th-century building that belonged to the abbey of Forest.
The tower of the Sint-Ambrosiuskerk (church of Saint-Ambrose) dates from the same century.
The main church of Sint-Anna-Pede (Itterbeek) was the model used by Peter Brueghel the Elder in his 1568 painting The Parable of the Blind currently in Naples. The village now houses a Brueghel museum as well as a restored watermill dating from 1776.
Dilbeek also houses an interesting tram museum, tracing the history of this local mode of transportation since its beginning in 1887.
The village of Sint-Gertrudis-Pede (Schepdaal) is the location of Payottenland's only working watermill, a centuries-old building thoroughly renovated in the eighties and nineties.
Brewery Angerik, a microbrewery that brews ales, lambic beers and a lager.