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Roosendael Abbey (the abbey of the valley of roses) was a community of Cistercian nuns, founded in the 13th century on the banks of the River Nete in the Duchy of Brabant, at a location now in Sint-Katelijne-Waver. The monastery was established in or before 1227 by the nobleman Gillis Berthout, according to later tradition for his daughters Elizabeth and Oda. An early member of the community who gave it a wider reputation for sanctity was Blessed Ida of Louvain.The monastery was ordered closed in 1795, during the French occupation of Belgium, and the nuns were forced off the premises in January 1797. The main building became a country house in the 19th century.In 1828 the archivist of the National Archives of Belgium was notified that a pile of old parchment was available from a second-hand clothes dealer in Brussels. This transpired to be the remains of the monastery's archives, with over a thousand documents, including papal bulls and ducal charters, the oldest going back to 1235.

The Senne (French: [sɛn]) or Zenne (Dutch: [ˈzɛnə]) is a small river that flows through Brussels, left tributary of the Dijle/Dyle. Its source is in the village of Naast near the municipality of Soignies. It is an indirect tributary of the Scheldt, through the Dijle and the Rupel. It joins the Dijle at Zennegat, in Battel in the north of the municipality of Mechelen, only a few hundred metres before the Dijle itself joins the Rupel. The Woluwe is one of the tributaries of the Senne. In total the Senne is 103 kilometres (64 mi) long. In the centre of Brussels, the Senne was completely covered up and major boulevards were built over top in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is still visible in the outskirts of Brussels and outside the city, though within the city it now runs mostly underneath the small ring. The Senne was notorious for being one of Belgium's worst polluted rivers, since all effluents from the Brussels Capital Region emptied into it without treatment. In March 2007, the completion of new sewage treatment plants began to remediate this problem. However, in December 2009, the plant Brussels Nord of Acquiris was temporarily and abruptly shut down, creating a political and ecological crisis. The yellow iris became used as the emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region due to its habitat in the marshy plains around the river. The unique seasonal wild yeasts of the Senne river valley are used in the production of the regional lambic style of beer. The Brasserie de la Senne is a recently opened brewery named for the river. Despite the covering up of the Senne resulting in the river being all but invisible in the centre of Brussels, it has had a cultural impact on the city. A nickname for residents of the city, "Zinneke", is taken from the stray dogs which hung around the Senne in the Middle Ages, known as "Zenneke" or "Zinneke". The name was revived at the start of the 21st century with the creation of the Zinneke Parade, a multicultural biennial event in the centre of Brussels.

The Oscar Vankesbeesckstadion is a football stadium, located in Mechelen, Belgium, and is host to K.R.C. Mechelen. With a capacity of 6,123.The stadium, located Oscar Vankesbeeckstraat, is named after Oscar Van Kesbeeck, a Flemish politician, who was chairman of the Belgian Football Association between 1937 and 1943, and a former chairman and player of Racing Mechelen. It is located about 1.5 kilometers far from the Veolia Stadium of rivals KV Mechelen.

The Kazerne Dossin Holocaust memorial is the only part of the Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights established within the former Mechelen transit camp of World War II, from which, in German-occupied Belgium, arrested Jews and Romani were sent to concentration camps. The aforementioned museum and documentation centre are housed in a new purpose-built complex across the public square.

The Mechelen transit camp, officially SS-Sammellager Mecheln (lit. 'SS Assembly Camp Mechelen') in German, also known as the Dossin barracks, was a detention and deportation camp established in a former army barracks at Mechelen in German-occupied Belgium. It served as a point to gather Belgian Jews and Romani ahead of their deportation to concentration and extermination camps in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust. The camp was established in March 1942 and was the only transit camp in Belgium. It was managed by the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo-SD), a branch of the Reich Security Main Office, and was used to hold Jews and Romani ahead of their deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as other camps including Heydebreck-Cosel. Between 4 August 1942 and 31 July 1944, 28 trains left from near the camp and deported over 25,800 people. Only 1,240 survived the war.The camp was abandoned at the Liberation of Belgium in September 1944 and subsequently was repurposed for housing. A museum was established in 1996 and today part of the former barracks and a new building opposite form part of the Kazerne Dossin – Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights, which includes a Holocaust memorial and museum.

The Scheppersinstituut Mechelen is a primary and secondary school in the city of Mechelen in Belgium. The school was founded in 1851 by Mechlinian priest Victor Scheppers in what until 1783 had been Mount Thabor Convent. Parts of the building are protected as a heritage site.

The Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is the primatial see of Belgium and the centre of the Ecclesiastical Province governed by the Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, which covers the whole of Belgium. It was formed in 1559 and the bishop has a seat in two cathedrals, St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen and the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The current archbishop is Jozef De Kesel, who was installed in November 2015.

The Archbishops of Mechelen-Brussels are the head of the Archbishopric of Mechelen-Brussels of the Catholic church in Belgium. It currently encompasses all of Belgium, making them the head of the Roman Catholic faith in the country. The current archbishop is Jozef De Kesel.

The Dyle (French: Dyle [dil]; Dutch: Dijle [ˈdɛi̯lə]) is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles in Walloon Brabant. The most important cities along the Dyle are (starting from the source) Ottignies, Wavre, Leuven and Mechelen, the last of which is often called the 'Dijlestad' (Dyle City). The main tributaries of the Dyle are the rivers Demer (in Werchter, Rotselaar municipality), and the Zenne at the Zennegat, on the farthest outskirts of Mechelen, where the canal Leuven-Mechelen also connects. A few hundred metres downstream, the confluence of the Dyle and the Nete at Rumst forms the river Rupel, which 12 kilometres (7 mi) further comes into the Scheldt on which the Antwerp seaport is located. The Dyle used to be navigable for small ships from Werchter on, although nowadays commercial and pleasure navigation is limited to Mechelen, the upper locks at Mechelen being closed for navigation.

The Nete (Dutch, in French: Nèthe) is a river in northern Belgium, right tributary of the Rupel. It flows through the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is formed in Lier, at the confluence of the rivers Grote Nete and Kleine Nete. It flows through Duffel and joins the river Dijle in Rumst to form the river Rupel. It drains nearly 60% of Antwerp province.

St. Rumbold's Cathedral (Dutch: Sint-Romboutskathedraal) is the Belgian metropolitan archiepiscopal cathedral in Mechelen, dedicated to Saint Rumbold, Christian missionary and martyr who had founded an abbey nearby. His remains are rumoured to be buried inside the cathedral. State-of-the-art examination of the relics honoured as Saint Rumbold's and kept in a shrine in the retro-choir, showed a life span of about 40 years and a death date between 580 and 655, while tradition had claimed 775 AD.In 1999, the tower of the cathedral was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of its architecture and its importance in civic duties such as a watchtower.

The AFAS Stadion is a football stadium in Mechelen, Belgium. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of KV Mechelen. Currently, the ground has a capacity of 16,672. The stadium is called Achter de Kazerne, which means "Behind the Army Barracks". It is called this because the stadium was once located behind an army base. In the past it was called Scarletstadion (2003–2006) after the stadium's sponsor Scarlet. It was the first commercialised stadium name in Belgium. After this, Veolia took over the deal (2006–2009) followed by Argos Oil until May 2015. AFAS Software started with a sponsorship deal and is currently the name-holder of Achter de Kazerne. A major reconstruction of the stadium started in 2015.AZ, a team from Alkmaar, Netherlands, also plays is an AFAS-sponsored stadium. See AFAS Stadion.