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Jan Van der Wauwe, a renowned architect, replaced the former place of worship, which was destroyed and had become too small, by the present church. The construction of the St. Martin's church started in 1480 but the church was never fully completed according to plan. For financial reasons, the construction works would be stopped 180 years later. The designers and clients had a much larger building in mind. Still, for the self-assured urban community the imposing church became a symbol of power. The main church of Aalst is a fine example of late Brabant Gothic. In the Museum ‘t Gasthuys you can still see a scale-model of the St. Martin’s church as it should have looked according to the architect. The painting Christ makes Saint Roch patron of plague victims by Peter Paul Rubens was commissioned by local beer and hop merchants. Many objects of art embellish the church: the gravestone of Dirk Martens, the renaissance sacrament tower of Jeroen Du Quesnoy the Old, some frescos, the imposing Van Peteghem organ, and several stained-glass windows from the Ghent atelier of Casier. The "popular window" in the right-hand transept played an important part for the urban meridian. The meridian lies in the form of a copper strip in the floor of the St. Martin’s church. At noon, when the sun falls through an oculus (small hole) of this stained-glass window, this generates a ray of light on the copper strip. In the beginning of the 19th century these meridians were used to establish a standard time for the whole of the Belgian territory. Such uniform time was needed to draw up the time schedules for the trains, which were introduced in Belgium in 1832.
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.