The 120 km long river Dommel flows north from a well near Peer in Belgium.

In the past the Dommel was important as a transport axis and had crucial influence on the village's history.

[4] During medieval times a surprising number of castles and other moated sites was built in vicinity of Sint-Michielsgestel.

[7] Its name was first mentioned when the estates or heerlijkheden Herlaer and Gestel were joined in approx.

For the Catholics in the area it brought freedom of religion, and in 1799 they established a seminary in what was left of Nieuw-Herlaer Castle.

Luuk van Driel, father of the famous Tim and Dirk, also known as 'grote spelers', got to escape along with a group of people, by calling the police.

Political prisoners were Wim Schermerhorn (Prime Minister 1945-1946), Willem Banning, Pieter Geyl and Jan de Quay, all post-war politicians.

After the main church connected to the Oude toren had to be demolished, a new St. Michael's was built on Nieuwstraat.

A major employer in Sint-Michielsgestel is Kentalis [nl], a resource centre for sensory and communicative disabled people formerly known as Institute for the deaf and hearing impaired called Instituut voor Doven.

Stichting Wielerbelang Sint-Michielsgestel (SWG) organizes major cyclo-cross events in the village since 1974.

The absolute highlight was the 2000 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships won by local Richard Groenendaal.