Ename

Ename
Postal codes		9700

Ename is a

. The territory was inhabited during Prehistoric and Roman times, and became a trade settlement during the 10th century. From the 11th century it was part of the domain of the . The remains of the Saint Salvator abbey are today part of a major heritage project in Flanders, established by the Province of East-Flanders. The Provincial Archaeological Museum of Ename displays the major finds that have been excavated on the abbey site. Today the village of Ename hosts the Museumnacht in July and the Feeste t' Ename with the traditional horse market that has been held for centuries during the celebrations of the , on the 10th of August.

History

Early history

The human presence in this area dates back to more than 5000 years ago. Human activity in this region can be traced back to the middle-

Roman time

Ename was close to the major

Middle Ages

In

Shortly before the year 1000, it was transformed into an important

Ottonian

roots, the border zone along the river Scheldt. In 963, Godfrey married Mathilda of Saxony, daughter of

Velzeke

.

Godfrey ruled the county of Biest (comitatus Biest), one of the four counties which formed the pagus Bracbatensis.^[7] It extended southwards from the row of hills around the city of Ronse, to the cities of Ghent and Dendermonde in the north. Godfrey and Mathilda initially must have ruled from Velzeke, while they created a trade center with a harbor in Ename, due to its advantageous economic position at the Scheldt. The river marked the border between the Ottonian Empire and the county of Flanders, which was why Ename had also a strategic military position. They probably moved to Ename from 993, and around 995 Godfrey and Matilda built there a keep surrendered by a walled castrum. A stone church dedicated to Saint Salvator was built for the trade settlement and a larger church dedicated to Saint Laurentius was erected in the nearby village.

With the death of

Modern history

In the course of the centuries the monastery and the church were rebuilt and enlarged several times. In 1795 the

: the monastery was confiscated and sold. After a few years it was dismantled and the pieces sold as building material. The possessions of the abbey were also sold. During the more than seven hundred years that the Saint Salvator abbey existed, Ename remained a rural village.

Archaeology

A century after the demolition of Saint Salvator abbey, in 1895, the mayor of Ename, Edmond Beaucarne, published the results of his research on the historical sources of Ename.

From 1942 to 1947, professor

excavation campaign

that revealed the Romanesque abbey church of Saint Salvator.

The Belgian National Service for Excavations started a second turn of archaeological investigations in 1982, which lasted till 2002, under the management of Dirk Callebaut. Part of the castrum, almost the whole abbey and the settlement underneath were excavated and documented.

Also the church of Saint Laurentius was excavated and studied in a major research project from 1999 to 2002.

From 1984 on, the forest Bos t'Ename was the object of a large-scale historical and ecological investigation aimed at tracing back the evolution of the landscape[10]^[11]

The results of all the archaeological and historical investigations on the territory of Ename have been visualised in interactive 3D models, on display on the archaeological site in the Timeframe application. It is a presentation technique that enables the visitors to virtually discover the abbey buildings and the surrounding landscape over several historical periods. Some characters of the history of Ename are used to create a realistic portrait of their era and give information on the life of the inhabitants.

Multilingual information panels at the site inform the visitors during their walk around the remains.

Castrum

The oldest trace of the use of the area where the castle stood was a waste ditch and treads, dating back to the second half of the 10th century. In the 11th century it was transformed into a walled area that contained a luxury limestone building, comprising an aula, a camera, a chapel; and a donjon, which had walls of 3 m up to 4,4 m. The foundations of this complex have been excavated and documented.

Settlement

The settlement was situated on a terrain where three occupation phases have been identified. Two churches were erected in the settlement: the Saint Salvator church, close to the river, and the Saint Laurentius church. The first one, no longer standing, has been excavated and part of the foundation can be visited on the archaeological site, while Saint Laurentius remains today the parish church of Ename. Archaeology revealed that, in the settlement, properties were subdivided into plots delimited by ditches. Constructions were from wood and traces of fireplaces and houses have been excavated in the settlement.

Saint Laurentius Church

Saint Laurentius church was built around 1000 AD near the common field, in the centre of the village. The Ottonian building had a basilical ground plan, with an eastern and a western choir. During the restoration of the building, traces of the 11th-century decoration were discovered. Above the main altar, parts of a Majestas Domini fresco are still preserved and bear witness to the richness of the medieval decoration of the church^[12]

Saint Salvator abbey

The foundations of the Benedictine abbey of Sain Salvator can be visited in the archaeological site of Ename. The evolution of the abbey, from the first Saint Salvator church of the 9th century to the largest 18th-century complex, can be traced from the intricate evolution of the foundation walls.

Sights

• The Provincial Archaeology Museum pam Ename, where part of the objects excavated in Ename are exhibited in a timeline sequence.
• The Provincial Heritage Centre, that hosts temporary exhibitions.
• Saint Salvator abbey archaeological site.
• Saint Laurentius church.
• The Ename forest.

References

External links

• 3D models on Europeana
• Feest t' Ename