Duffel, Belgium ... home of the Duffle coat (except it isn't).
The Duffle coat was named for the fabric it was made from, Duffle's linnen. Duffle's linnen DID originate in my home town.
Duffle is famous for ... fuck all.
The 'valuable buildings' are ...
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lijst_van_onroerend_erfgoed_in_DuffelThe ones that actually have a picture are (top to bottom),
- The Chapel of our-dear-lady (if that's the English spelling) which is to be closed and sold off in the 'near' future ... used to be a pilgrimage destination following the 'miraculous' discovery of a statuette of the virgin Mary in a tree (because, you know, no one EVER puts statuettes in trees, it HAD to be divine intervention)
- City hall, an architectural monstrosity of half a dozen styles.
- Belle Epoque cinema ... still in pretty good condition, considering ... needs some work though
- Saint Martin church, biggest church in the village, bombed during WW2, so of little architectural value.
- Ter Elst castle, used to be situated right in the middle of the river Nete, to collect tariffs from passing ships, but these days that bend in the river has been straightened. So, the castle now sits in a tiny lake. I say 'castle' but it's really more like an oversized medieval villa. Featured in the second movie of the original version of House Anubis.
Most famous Duffeler is Killiaan, who wrote the first ever Dutch dictionary. All previous dictionaries were in Latin only.
Another ... peculiarity of our village is these fellows ...

Front to back, these are Mieke, Janneke, Mooresse, Moor, Empress and way in the back, over Empress' left shoulder, you can just make out Emperor's head.
The latter four are several centuries old, dating from the Spanish era. The youngest giant, Kinnebaba, not on this picture, was constructed in 1982.