Dilbeek
Dilbeek () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pede), Sint-Martens-Bodegem, and Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle. Dilbeek is located just outside the Brussels-Capital Region, in the Pajottenland, hence the local name "Poort van het Pajottenland" (Gate to the Pajottenland). Even though Dilbeek is located in the Dutch language area of Belgium, there is a French-speaking minority represented by 3 members on the 35-seat local council. It is a mostly  residential community with some preserved rural areas and some industrial zones. History. Medieval origins. The life of Saint Alena, the 7th-century martyr daughter of a lord of Dilbeek, was set in Dilbeek and Forest (Vorst). The historical facts of her life, however, are disputed. In Carolingian times, Dilbeek and its neighbouring villages were part of the pagus "Bracbatensis". This territory, ruled by the Lords of Aa in Anderlecht, was integrated into the Landgraviate of Brabant by the counts of Leuven around 1085. The first mention of the name "Dedelbeccha" dates from 1075, while the name "Bigardis", later transformed into  Groot-Bijgaarden (in French "Grand Bigard"), dates from 1110. "Bigardis" was originally a dependency of the Abbey of Saint Bavo in Ghent, but by 1125, nuns under the leadership of had founded a religious community there. Around 1183, the landgraviate became the Duchy of Brabant, within which Dilbeek remained as an independent parish until the French Revolution. 16th century until now. The area's parishes belonged to the see of Cambrai until 1559, when they were placed under the administration of the Archbishop of Mechelen. Also in the 16th century, Dilbeek, Itterbeek and Sint-Martens-Bodegem were placed under the  local rule of the Lords of Gaasbeek. The following decades were marked by the wars that opposed Catholics and Protestants, which resulted in the ruin of the Abbey of Groot-Bijgaarden. The final dismantlement and sale of the buildings took place during the French regime in the 1790s.