Gevaert Quarter

At the end of the 19th century, the rise of the steam engine led to the establishment of various textile mills. The Gevaert family played a leading role in Oudenaarde. In the vicinity of the new Gevaert factory, Omer Gevaert had a housing estate (Gevaertsdreef) built for his workers. In addition, the construction of a new railway station and the many new avenues changed the townscape drastically.

This quarter is a very picturesque part of town and is located near the city park. The Liedts castle has a contrastive effect with the allotment gardens and the Gevaert quarter.

The Tacambaro square is situated on the outskirts of the Gevaert quarter This rectangular square was laid out in 1861 on the same location where the Beverepoort, the northern town gate, once stood.

“De treurende vrouw”, a white sculpture of a grieving woman, stands in the centre of the square. From her lonely elevated position she looks in the direction of Mexico, where Belgian volunteers went to fight in 1864. They had assembled in Oudenaarde to save the Mexican empire of Maximilian and Charlotte, daughter of Leopold I and sister of Leopold II. The square is named after the battle of Tacambaro where this volunteer army lost its strike power and, consequently, the Mexican empire ruled by a foreign emperor was doomed to disappear, as happened in 1867. The emperor was executed.

This monument was erected in the same year to commemorate the victims of the Battle of Tacambaro.

Both to the east and west of the square, there are war memorials, commemorating the victims of World War I.