Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Belgium

Notre-Dame Cathédral (Cathedral of Our Lady) in Tournai was mainly constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The cathedral was built in the Romanesque style, but it also has Gothic style elements. In the beginning of the 12th century, there was an exchange of influence between the architecture of the Ile-the-France, Rhineland and Normandy. The five towers at the intersection of the transept, central part of the cathedral, is characteristic of the considerable influence of the Tournai cathedral on cathedrals in northern France and the medieval churches in the Flemish part of Belgium. The proportions of the building are really impressive: length 134 meters, width 58 meters for the choir only. The transept exceeds 67 meters and the towers are 83 meters high. The Romanesque choir was replaced by a Gothic choir in the period 1243-1255 and was inspired by the choir of the cathedral in Amiens. The nave and transept houses the largest collection of sculptures and Romanesque wall paintings in Belgium. Notre-Dame Cathédral - landmark of Tournai - is a gem of medieval architecture, listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO since 2000.

At the end of the 19th century, the area between Tournai and Antoing was the world's leading producer of lime and cement. The St. André lime kilns near Cherq were built from 1840 and have served for a century to process local limestone at high temperature into lime and natural cement. Lime kilns were use to the year of 1945. The complex of the eight kilns of St. André - 100 meters long - is located along the banks of the river Scheldt.

The Pont des Trous (Bridge of Holes) in Tournai is one of the most remarkable vestiges of medieval military architecture in Belgium. The bridge was built in the late 13th century. It was part of the second surrounding wall of the city, which featured a total of 18 gates, and protected the course of the river Scheldt through the city. Huge portcullis could be lowered at any time. The name comes from the presence of a lock located nearby and was called Les Trous (Holes) by the inhabitants of Tournai Originally it was named Pont des Arcs . Its construction took almost fifty years: the tower on the left bank dates from 1281 and the tower of the right bank was completed in 1304. The construction of the arches took another 25 years. In 1948 the water gate was raised by 2.40 meters in order to facilitate the passage of boats on the river.

Kasteel Wissekerke (Wissekerke Castle) is situated in the village of Bazel. As early as the 10th century, a fortification stood on this spot to defend the area against Viking raids. In the 13th century, construction of Wissekerke Castle began. In the 16th century, the castle was rebuilt. After it was partially burnt down in 1583, it was rebuilt mainly for comfort and lost most of its defensible features. Throughout the 19th century, Kasteel Wissekerke was the seat of influential nobles. In the mid-20th century, they left the castle, after which it was bought by the municipality. Today, the catles serves as a museum.

The Town Hall is Oudenaarde’s landmark and a real testament to the grandeur of late Brabant Gothic architecture. It is located at the market square, in the heart of city. In 1525 the city council commissioned Hendrik van Pede, a master builder from Brussels, to create a new town hall. A year later construction of Oudenaarde's Town Hall began, which took ten years. It is attached to the 14th-century Cloth Hall and has a 16th-century 40-meters high Belfry (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The building has six floors and is considered a masterpiece of Brabant Gothic. Nowadays the Oudenaarde Town Hall houses the MOU Museum, exhibiting famous tapestries and silverware.

The 88 meters high tower of the Sint-Walburgakerk (St Walburga's church) rises above Oudenaarde with its Brabant Gothic style. The church consists of two half churches built together. The oldest church dates from the 10th century. The building history records 1150 as the date of rebuilding the church after a fire in 1126. This new church had a large choir with a so-called crossing tower. The present choir is a remnant of this early Gothic monument. The church is dedicated to Saint Walburga, the patron saint of Oudenaarde. Around 1422/23, mention is made of a new building, but due to financial difficulties, only half of these grand plans took shape. A start was made on the tower; in 1428 the work was halted before being restarted in 1478. In 1501, the tower's hull was finished. The stately tower only had its crowning glory when a baroque spire was placed on the Gothic trunk in 1620, which burned down in 1804 due to a lightning strike. The materials used for the church are mainly Tournai-stone for the oldest part and Balegem-stone for the late Gothic. Tapestry weaving was Oudenaarde's main industry for three centuries, and St Walburga's church played an important role in the lives of tapestry weavers. A number of Oudenaarde tapestries hang in the church.

Sanctuary Wood ( Heiligdombos ) was named by British troops in November 1914 during World War I, when they used the cover of a forest at this location to tend to their wounded during the First Battle of Ypres, so it was literally a ‘sanctuary’ of sorts for those casualties. At the end of the battle the front line stabilized and would remain so until the Third Battle of Ypres, when the Commonwealth troops managed to push the front line a few miles into German-held territory. In the Spring Offensive of 1918, however, the Germans pushed the Allies back towards Ypres and Sanctuary Wood was occupied by the Germans until the final battle and the defeat of Germany. In 1919 the farmer who had owned the land of what became Sanctuary Wood returned to reclaim his property. He decided to preserve some of the British trench system he found. It is one of the very few original sets of World War I trenches left as they were found at the end of the war. Nowadays it is a privately owned museum nearby the Canadian Hill 62 Memorial and the Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.

At the end of October 1914, World War I stalled in Flanders Fields. After the first battle of Ypres (October-November 1914), trenches were dug in a wide arc around the city of Ypres. The second battle followed the first gas attack (April 1915). The front line shrank into the “Little Ypres Salient” at 3.5 to 4.5 km away from the city centre. The front started moving again on 7 June 1917. British troops broke open the Ieperboog (Ypres Salient) at the cost of huge losses during the third battle of Ypres (July-November 1917). However the German spring offensive of 1918 pushed the Ypres Salient back towards Ypres. The German troops were forced to give up the Ieperboog at the end of September 1918, due to exhaustion and the arrival of American troops. These battles almost completely destroyed the city of Ypres, while thousands of citizens and over hundreds of thousands soldiers from around the world lost their lives. More than 150 military cemeteries were built and monuments erected in and around the city in the 1920’s. Cemeteries, monuments, trenches, mine craters and museums nowadays still remind us of the futility of war.

The Lakenhalle (Cloth Hall) is a well-known landmark, located in the heart of Ypres. This large hall was built in Gothic style between 1200 and 1304. It was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry. At 125 meters in width, with a 70 meters high belfry tower, it recalls the importance and wealth of the medieval trade city. The Lakenhalle was completely destroyed during World War I. Between 1933 and 1967, it was meticulously reconstructed to its prewar condition, under the guidance of architects J. Coomans and P. A. Pauwels. In 1999, the Lakenhalle was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France. Nowadays the building houses the In Flanders Fields Museum, the Yper Museum and the local tourist information office.

Sint-Maartenskerk or Sint-Maartenskathedraal (St Martin's Church or St Martin's Cathedral) is the former cathedral and seat of the former diocese of Ypres from 1561 to 1901. Construction started on the church in 1230, and was finished in 1370. There had previously been a Romanesque church in the area, dating from the 10th or 11th century. Sint-Maartenskerk was heavily damaged during the World War I. Subsequently (1922–1930) the ruin was cleared and the church was entirely rebuilt following the original plans, although the tower was built with a higher spire than the original. With a height of 102 meters it is one of the tallest buildings in Belgium.

The Sint-Pieterskerk (St Peter's Church) is located in on the place where the Flemish count “Robrecht de Fries” is said to have founded a place of worship in 1073. This Romanesque church dedicated to St Peter was built in the 12th-13th centuries. At the end of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century, it was converted into a Gothic hall church. The first tower burned down in 1638. It was not until 1868 that the church had a new tower. During World War I, the church was almost completely destroyed. Only the vaults of the church were spared. The famous reconstruction architect Jules Coomans has integrated the remains of the walls in the new church and replaced the Gothic superstructure of the tower with a Romanesque tower.

Sint-Alexiusbegijnhof (St. Alexius Beguinage) is an oasis of quietness in the heart of Dendermonde. It has 61 houses around a green trapezium-shaped courtyard with a chapel in the middle. The beguinage was built in 1288 and has been occupied ever since. At one time two hundred and fifty beguines, members of a religious sisterhood, lived here; the last died in 1975. Her former home houses a museum of folklore. To keep the memory of the beguines alive, one small house has been furnished as an authentic beguine's home. Since the year of 1998 the Sint-Alexiusbegijnhof is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The history of Arboretum Kalmthout goes back as far as 1856, when the Antwerp dendrologist Charles Van Geert started a proving ground in Kalmthout for his nursery in Antwerp. It remained a nursery until 1952, when the brothers Georges and Robert de Belder bought the site to create their private botanical garden there. Under their leadership Arboretum Kalmthout grew into one of the world's most prestigious botanic collections. They introduced hundreds of new plants, which came from friends and growers all over the world. They collected seeds in the wild, and also selected a number of new cultivars. In addition to collecting new plants, increasing importance was given to scientific and educational aspects. The garden grew into one of the most valuable collections of woody plants in Europe. In 1986 Antwerp Provincial Authority purchased the site and the property has been expanded and now measures over 33 acres The independent non-profit organisation “Arboretum Kalmthout” retained full responsibility for management, upkeep, and operation. Jelena de Belder – the wife of Robert - was a big fan of Cyclamen, the tuberous plant from the forests of her homeland Slovenia. She planted very many of them in the garden since the 1980s. During our visit in September, we took a walk along the Cyclamen-trail with many so-called autumn cyclamen; sometimes a few together and in other places whole carpets of flowers.

The Église Saint-Lambert (Saint-Lambert Church) is the parish church of the village of Sippenaeken. It is located on a hill above the valley of the river Geul. This classical-style building was built between 1840 and 1841. The brick structure rests on a base of sandstone and limestone. An octagonal spire surmounts the square tower. Although the outside of the church is quite simple, I was pleasantly surprised by the interior (even with the red-white corona-ribbons on the pews) with its beautiful altar.

Castle Beusdael is located outside the village of Sippenaeken. The castle - surrounded by a moat - is characterized by three main parts: an imposing limestone tower, dating back to the 13th century (12 meters wide and up to 28 meters below the cornice with thick walls 1.5 to 2.5 meters at the base), the main building in stone and bricks from the 16th century, and finally the neo-Gothic chapel of the late 19th century. To enter the castle, you cross a stone bridge over the moat with a gate building. The first Lords of Beusdael appear in the 14th century. This family was powerful and owned several properties, like the Dutch castles of Geusselt and Goedenraad. By marriages and heritages the Castle Beusdael transferred from the Van Beusdael family to a lot of noble families until the 19th century. In 1875 it was inherited by Count Florent d'Oultremont, who ordered major alterations to the castle. Castle Beusdael had several other owners until it was bought by the Antoine family in 1976. The castle is private property and still inhabited and not accessible.

The majestic stadhuis (city hall) is built in the sixteenth century; construction of the building - after designs made by Cornelis Floris de Vriendt and several other architects and artists - started in 1561 and was completed four years later. At that time Antwerp was one of the largest and most important cities in the world. As one of the world's most powerful commercial centers the new city hall was to become a symbol of the city's wealth and power. It is considered being the most important Renaissance building in the “Low Countries”. During the Spanish Fury in 1576, the new building was set on fire by Spanish soldiers, leaving only the exterior walls standing. The city hall was rebuilt three years later, in 1579. The façade is richly decorated with statues, ornaments and coat of arms. It is facing the Grote Markt with its wonderful 16th and 17th centuries houses (PiPs). The stadhuis is decorated with the flags of the countries of the European Union, in addition to flags of all the countries that have a consulate in Antwerp. The ground floor of the building originally housed small shops. The construction of the city hall was partly funded with the rent received from those shopkeepers. The stadhuis of Antwerp is since 1999 inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List along with the belfries of Belgium and France.

The beautifully restored Turnhout Castle, also known as Castle of the Dukes of Brabant ( Kasteel van de Hertogen van Brabant ) dates back to the 12th century. Originally it was the first hunting lodge of the first Duke of Brabant. In the 16th century the castle was rebuilt into a renaissance palace by Mary of Hungary, at that time the governors of the Netherlands and was used as a court of pleasure. During the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) Turnhout Castle lay on the front line. As a result it changed hands several times between the Spanish army and the Dutch rebels. In 1597 the north wing was burned down by the troops of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange. After that the castle lost its military importance. In 1702 Turnhout became a Prussian barony under Frederick the Great. In 1789, during the Brabant Revolution, the Austrians were driven out of Turnhout. They returned twice but in 1796 the castle was occupied by the French. They turned the castle into a court house and prison. The building was also used as a warehouse, a fire brigade and a weaving school. In the 20th century the decayed castle was purchased by the province of Antwerp and was renovated in a classicist inspired neo-baroque style. The last renovation took place around the year 2000 and was opened again in May of that year. At present Turnhout Castle - one of the most interesting buildings in the city - is used as a court of justice and is not open for visitors.

In the Middle Ages Bruges ( Brugge in Dutch) had more than twenty windmills, which were located on the city walls. Nowadays there are only four remaining mills on the ramparts between the Kruispoort and the Dampoort . One of them is the Bonne Chiere, which was built in the village of Olsene in the year of 1844. This windmill was rebuilt on its current location in Bruges in 1911, after the original mill was blown down during a storm. It is built in the same architectural style: wooden standard mill on four brick dices. The ‘new’ Bonne Chiere has never grinded grain, but was just for decoration. The mill is not open for visitors.