1 - Start walk park Drie Fonteinen Vilvoorde

It is best to start your walk at the entrance on the Brusselsesteenweg, about three hundred meters upstream of the bridge of Vilvoorde over the Zeekanaal, on the left bank. The Brussels-Scheldt Sea Canal was dug around 1550 to circumvent the Vilvoord and Mechelen tolls for goods traffic between Mechelen and Brussels on the Senne. Originally it was only about two meters deep. Now ships can pass with a draught of up to seven meters. The canal connects Brussels with the Scheldt. In a southerly direction it crosses to Charleroi, under the name Canal to Charleroi.Between the water treatment plant and the bridge of Vilvoorde is the more than 100 hectare 'Watersite' project where the city of Vilvoorde wants to bring together living, working and recreation.
The walk starts in the parking lot of the sports stadium Drie Fonteinen. If you have your back to the canal, take the passage (fence) to the reserve football field on the left.

Where does the name Three Fountains come from?
When the Zeekanaal was dug from 1550, the lock of Ransbeek was built near the current Park Drie Fonteinen. At the same time, a gigantic fountain was erected: a huge column with four nozzles in the four cardinal directions. Why the park was called Three Fountains instead of Four is not clear. Some say this is because you could only see three of the four fountains from the water.

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