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The main attraction on the Grote Markt is no doubt the former Aldermen's House with belfry and late Gothic extension ("Gebiedshuis"). The Oud Schepenhuis was built in 1225 and is the oldest preserved aldermen's house in the Low Countries. The high saddle roof and four round corner towers will later become typical of late medieval town halls. The belfry from 1407 owes its elegance to the octangular tower with open gallery. The façade holds two statues picturing the Counts of Flanders and Counts of Aalst and the inscription Nec Spe Nec Metu ("no hope, no fear"), the motto of Philip II, who in 1555 was welcomed as Count of Aalst. The decorative belfry tower received UNESCO world heritage status in 1999 and houses one of the oldest carillons in Belgium. The carillon still reminds people every quarter of an hour of the centuries-old presence of the belfry on the Grote Markt. The neo-Gothic figures of the tower clock were replaced in 1960 by a dial with half spheres. Since then, people from Aalst have referred to the belfry as the "tettentoeren" or "breasts tower", a reference to the resemblance between the clock's half spheres and a woman's breasts. The Gebiedshuisje, the protruding late-Gothic extension, was the place from where the bailiff or alderman proclaimed new laws for people gathering at the Grote Markt. Five statues decorate the face: Lady Justitia, Dirk van Aalst (the last count who died in 1166), Pieter Coecke (court painter), Emperor Charles V, and Cornelius De Schrijver (humanist and Latin poet). Every month, all members of the town council gather here for the town council's meeting. The second floor is fitted out as a meeting room and the ground floor and cellar are let as exhibition rooms. You can visit the Belfry only by booking a guided group visit. The tour of the Belfry takes about 2 hours, the price for the guide is €60 and up to 20 people are allowed per group. Contact the tourist information department for more information.
Built in 1261, only the original shape of the square with its small houses has been preserved. Ste Catherine’s church, dating from 1787, is a rare example of religious architecture in classic style. The church is now used by the Orthodox community. A béguinage is a collection of small buildings used by Beguines. These were various lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries, comprising religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world.
The Borse was built in 1630. It was erected in renaissance architecture with open gallery. The building was used as a hostelry along the old commercial route Lille – Amsterdam. You can wine and dine here in a stylish and pleasant setting.
Four rural villages of Aalst, namely Baardegem, Herdersem, Meldert, and Moorsel, together form the Faluintjes region. They are the green lungs of Aalst. The word "Faluintjes" is explained in different ways. According to some, it is a corruption of the French "vallée", the valley of the Molenbeek brook. Others recognise the French word "fallourdes", which means faggots. Did the monks make this swampy valley passable by using stacks of faggots? Or would it be a corruption of the Celtic "fallæn", the French "fallun" – "fallunière" or stone quarry? Whatever, the Faluintjes remains a linguistic mystery.
The central market square in Aalst or Grote Markt is a pleasant, yet stately square with several imposing monuments and various restaurants and pubs. It is the administrative, economic, and social heart of town. The belfry is a .
The bourgeoisie of the 19th century used the fronts of the former medieval bulwarks for building their mansions. The walls rendered in white are decorated with pillars and ornamental elements and, often, also with a balcony above the entrance gate. Here lived at the time the headmen of the conservative party and, particularly, many factory bosses who had their factories in their back garden. In 1997, the whole complex of mansions and rows of trees in the middle were protected as townscape. The statue of Queen Astrid, erected in 1938, and that of King Baudouin, dating from 1991, form the beginning and end of the row of trees.
The former coach house and orangery now holds a branch of the Aalst library. The castle gardens, measuring 2 hectares, still have their original pattern of roads and bulwarks and have been landscaped in country style. The gardens are open to the public, the castle is not.