Mol (Dutch pronunciation:[mɔl]ⓘ) is a
municipality located in the
Belgian province of
Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Mol. In 2021, Mol had a total population of 37,021 inhabitants.[2] The total area is 114.19 km2.[3][4][5]
Mol is a popular holiday resort, with many lakes surrounded by woods. There are two main tourist lakes:
Zilvermeer, which opened as a Provincial Park in 1959 and offers a white sand beach as well as facilities such as an outdoor playground and an underwater museum for divers.
Zilverstrand: Originally, it had only an outdoor lake with a white sand beach. Later, a caravan park was built and mid-1990s an indoor swimming pool was created.
Furthermore, there is a Sun Parks holiday centre called "Kempense Meren" with an indoor swimming pool. The museum of Jakob Smits is located in the former vicarage of Mol-Sluis. This displays works of the artist
Jakob Smits (1855-1928) and other painters of the
Molse School, who were attracted to the area by its rustic views including several windmills (of which only one remains).
In the north-east corner of Mol, near the Dutch border, lies the Norbertine
Postel Abbey. Mol is also home to the
SCK•CEN Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, the
Flemish institute for technological research (VITO) and a
European School. The first industries in Mol were the Vieille Montagne company and the explosive factory N.V. La Forcite. In 1872 the Sablières et Carrières Réunies (SCR), now
Sibelco [
nl], was founded in order to extract the
silica sand layers in Mol for industrial applications. The company became the global market leader in this sector with production sites all over the world.
The 15 chapels[6] were built by Pater Helsen in 1815 with 14 co-workers of the region. It is a protected monument.
Municipality structure
The municipality of Mol is divided in different townships respectively named:
Jakob Smitsmuseum in Sluis.
Smits was a central artist to the
Molse School. The museum's collection contains mostly works of his alongside several other artists of the Molse School.
Education
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adding to it. (March 2016)