Last modified: 2008-04-05 by ivan sache
Keywords: sint-genesius-rode | rhode-saint-genese |
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The municipality of Sint-Genesius-Rode (in French, Rhode-Saint-Genèse; 17,975 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 2,277 ha, including a great part of the forest of Soignes), a municipality with "linguistic facilities" for the French speakers, is bordering the Region of Brussels-Capital in the south and Wallonia in the north.
From the IXth to the XIIth century, severla clearings (roda) were made in the forest of Soignes; the name of Roda was mentioned for the first time in 1141 in a document written in Latin. For centuries, the forest was the only source of income for the villagers of Sint-Genesius-Rode, who specialized in the production of brooms, therefore their nickname of bezembinders (Brooms' binders).
St. Genesius was an actor at the court of the Roman Emperor Diocletian
(284-305). Specialized in parts mocking Christians, Genesius secretely
converted to the new religion. Diocletian ordered to torture him to
change his mind, to no avail; Genesius was beheaded on 25 August 285.
When and why Genesius became the patron saint of Rode is not known; the
only historical record on this states that the saint's relics were
brought to the parish church in the middle of the XVIIth century. Sint
Genesius is invoked to heal tumors and warts.
Source: Municipal website (Dutch, French).
Ivan Sache, 4 November 2007
The flag of Sint-Genesius-Rode is vertically divided green-white-green
(1:2:1) with a Romanesque church tower in the middle of the white stripe.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 10 March 1986, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 7
October 1986 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 3
December 1987, as Drie banen van groen, van wit en van groen, lengteverhoudingen 1:2:1,
met op het wit een zwarte romaanse kerktoren geopend en gemetseld van wit.
The green stripes symbolize the forest of Soignes while the church tower was
designed after a municipal seal dated 1449. The church tower appears in the
municipal arms on a white field, standing on a green terrace.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 4 November 2007
