Ladeuzeplein

The Mgr. Ladeuzeplein is a square (plein is Dutch for square) in the center of Leuven. The square was named after a former rector of the Catholic University Leuven, Monseigneur Paulin Ladeuze. The Ladeuzeplein is the largest square in Leuven. Until World War II it was called the Volksplaats or People's Place.Among the local population the square was known as the Jerkarlisse. This name is derived from the Clarisse religious order who used to have a monastery at this location, when it still was a sandy hill (Jer refers in the local dialect to dirt, thus unpaved, as contrary to the adjacent Stiënkarlisse, the former paved Graanmarkt, now Herbert Hooverplein). In 1783 the monastery was abolished and the city of Leuven bought the estate from the Belgian authorities, who had inherited it, in order to establish a market dedicated to the sale of wood. The hill was leveled off and the first house on the square was erected in 1812. At this time the square was named Place Napoleon, later it was renamed the Volksplaats and eventually it became the Mgr. Ladeuzeplein.University LibraryThe square is dominated visually by the monumental library of the University. Even though the neo-Renaissance exterior implies otherwise, the building is relatively recent, dating from 1921. The library was a gift from the American people to the city of Leuven, after the original 17th-century library near the Grote Markt was burned down by the German occupying forces in August 1914. The fire destroyed not only a large part of the cultural patrimony of the medieval city, but it also caused the loss of countless and irreplaceable historical manuscripts and books, many dating back centuries.