In Kloosterstraat in Gierle, you can find the remains of the former 'Pensionate of the Religious Ursulines'. It is now split into two buildings; the primary school (number 28) and the Kloosterhof (number 26).
To the southeast of its playground, the primary school has a monumental neo-Gothic chapel with a banquet hall underneath. The building is a remnant of the once thriving French-speaking girls' boarding school of the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk. The boarding school, founded in 1873, had many foreign pupils in its early decades, especially Danish and Greek girls.
The classical neo-Gothic chapel on the first floor dates from 1903. The interior has some art nouveau features. The organ, a gift from the former pupils, dates from 1910. The municipality now owns the building.
The Kloosterhof, the building with bay window erected in 1936, was designed by architect Steenackers. It was the last major expansion. In 1963, the boarding school was disbanded rather suddenly. Since then, two works painted by artist Frans Van Giel for the chapel have been missing.
In 1966, after long negotiations, the building was bought by Jos Peeters-Govers. He sold it to René Peeters-Otten who operated the building for a while as the Hotel Kloosterhof.
