Short answers, pulled from the story.
The city lies on the banks of the river Dyle, which flows through its heart, earning it the nickname Dijlestad or City on the Dyle. This waterway has shaped the city's geography and history since the Gallo-Roman period, when the area was settled on the riverbanks.
In 1473, Charles the Bold moved several political bodies to Mechelen, transforming it into the capital of the Low Countries. Governmental institutions were relocated to Brussels in 1530, following a devastating gunpowder magazine explosion in 1546, which caused the city's political influence to wane.
In 1572, during the Eighty Years' War, the city was burned and sacked by Spanish forces in an event known as the Spanish Fury at Mechelen. A major rebellion in 1718 saw angry mobs enter the Town Hall, and on the 18th of June, Christophe-Ernest de Baillet restored order with the support of multiple regiments sent by imperial command.
Mechelen entered the industrial age in the 19th century, marked by the opening of one of the first railways on the European continent in 1835. During the Second World War, the Nazi occupation forces chose Mechelen for their infamous transit camp, from which over 25,000 Jews and Roma were sent by rail to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.
The city is renowned for the Ommegang, a parade held once every 25 years that has been recognized as a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2005. Mechelen is also famous for its carillon tradition, hosting the Royal Carillon School Jef Denyn, which attracts carillonneurs from around the world to study and play the instrument.