You are standing here on the village square of Machelen-aan-de-Leie, one of the oldest villages in Flanders. From here, small alleys lead to the church, the Leie river, the windmill and, in the past, to the large farms in the surrounding area. On the square is De Afspanning, now a restaurant and formerly an inn.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Machelen was an important location for flax cultivation and industry. Here and there, you can still recognise a few former warehouses among the houses.

Roger Raveel always lived and worked in this village. For him, it always remained a “real” village: not an idyllic or romantic place, like other villages in the Leie region, but a village where people live and work. “Modernity” and technological and architectural progress have only slowly seeped in.

Before he became famous, the Machelaars used to mockingly call out to Raveel: “Rubens, go and do some more painting!”. They did not take him seriously because he did not do any physical labour, while his father had to lug heavy sacks around as a miller until he was very old.

Later, he did receive recognition: in 1979, he was made an honorary citizen of Zulte and, in the late 1980s, the parish priest invited him to transform the Chapel of Mary Help of Christians into a total work of art. A little later, The Wall of Imagination and the Posts of the Unlimited also appeared in the village, works of art that are cherished by the inhabitants today.