De Grote Gete (also Tiense Gete) Tienen Belgium

De Grote Gete (also Tiense Gete) Tienen Belgium
The Grote Gete (also Tiense Gete) is a Belgian river that forms the actual Gete after confluence with the Kleine Gete.

Walk
The Grote Gete rises in the Walloon Brabant municipality of Perwez near the Roman road. It crosses the road Namur-Tienen and flows through the villages: Geest-Gérompont, Mont-Saint-André, Bomal, Klein-Geten, Jodoigne, Sint-Jans-Geest, Hoegaarden, Tienen, Oplinter, Neerlinter, Drieslinter and Budingen, where it forms the border with Helen-Bos over a short distance.

From the origin to Budingen, the Grote Gete is approximately 51 km long. In Budingen it flows together with the Kleine Gete and the river flows for 12 km under the name Gete, eventually ending in Halen in the Demer.

Numbering
The province of Flemish Brabant classifies the various water basins with a four-digit system. The Getebekken, with the Gete as number 4.001, starts with a 4 and so do all its tributaries. The higher the number, the smaller the watercourse.

Shipping
Shipping on the Gete was relatively short-lived: a total of 60 years. On December 9, 1517, the young Emperor Charles V granted permission to make the Great Gete navigable as far as Tienen. The first ship left Tienen around Christmas 1525, while the first ship arrived on March 3, 1526. The first sailor, Hendrick Deprince, received 38 pennies from the city council for this. The new form of prosperity was viewed with sorrow by the city of Zoutleeuw. In addition, Mr. van Neerlinter put sticks in the wheels. However, it was the religious wars that silted up the Gete.

After the Peace of Münster (1648), peace returned. On August 11, 1650, Philip IV gave Tienen permission to channel the Gete again. The works progressed quickly and in November 1651 the first boat arrived at Tienen. The event was celebrated on November 24 at the inn of Joos Lenaerts, the "King of Spain". The revival of shipping did not last long. Shipping came to a standstill under the regency of Juan of Austria (1656). The place where the ships arrived was already called aende werff in 1544. Before reaching this yard, the skippers passed seven locks that the city had to maintain. The Pakhuis was located in the Paardenbrugstraat on the Vetterie.

The photo I took here shows what De Grote Gete looks like after a heavy rain.

Sincerely
Theo-Herbots-Photography
Read less