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

In 1615, Jesuits from Antwerp began construction of their Baroque church. In 1621, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk - as it was initially called - was completed. In 1773, the Jesuit order was abolished. A few decades later, the church became the parish church that it still is today and was given the name of its new patron saint: Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk (St. Charles Borromeo Church). This is the Rubens Church par excellence. As a painter, decorator and architect, Peter Paul Rubens had a hand in the tower, the façade, the high altar, the ceiling stucco work and the Lady Chapel. Large sums of money were spent on decorating the interior. It was not for nothing that the church was called “the marble temple”. On 18 July 1718, lightning struck, destroying no fewer than 39 of Rubens' ceiling paintings in the flames. This was followed by a somewhat austere reconstruction of the column basilica. During the restoration in the 1980s, attempts were made to recreate the original interior from before 1718.

The history of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of our Lady) began in the 9th century with a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady. In 1124, it was granted parish church status and replaced by a larger Romanesque church. When that became too small, an ambitious project was launched in 1352: the construction of the largest Gothic church in the Netherlands with two identical, tall towers. After almost 170 years, the Cathedral of Our Lady was completed. The north tower was finished with a height of 123 metres. The south tower only reached halfway. After a fire in 1533, completion was never resumed. In 1559, the church was given the title of “Cathedral”. The building was not spared from disaster. During the Iconoclastic Fury in 1566, the Protestants destroyed a large part of the interior. Years later, numerous art treasures were destroyed, removed or sold. When the French conquered the city in 1794, they plundered the church. In 1816, the Cathedral of Our Lady was restored to its former glory with the return of important works of art, including three paintings by Rubens.

Het Steen is the oldest preserved building in Antwerp. Its location has been essential to the development of the city. As early as the 9th century, the first settlement with earthen ramparts was established here. A castle, a stone wall and a gatehouse were built at the entrance, which later became Het Steen . Over the centuries, the function of the impressive building changed frequently: from gatehouse to prison, from sawmill to museum. After its latest renovation in 2021, the medieval fortress of Het Steen houses a tourist centre for the city of Antwerp. In front of Het Steen stands the Lange Wapper : a statue of a legendary giant from Antwerp folklore, who comes to life at night and chases drunks wandering through the city (PiP 3).

Peter Paul Rubens is one of Antwerp's most famous residents. He lived and worked here for much of his life. When he returned to Antwerp from Italy in 1608, he had a house on Vaartstraat (now Wapper) renovated two years later. He designed the Rubenshuis (Rubens House) and studio himself, modelled on the Renaissance palaces in Italy. In 1937, the city of Antwerp purchased the property. Shortly after the Second World War, it was officially opened as a museum. The Baroque garden has been reconstructed as much as possible to its original state and contains more than 17,000 plants.

The Vlaeykensgang is a picturesque courtyard dating back to 1591. In the past, the poorest inhabitants of the city lived here, together with the shoemakers. They were responsible for ringing the alarm bell of the nearby cathedral. In the 1960s, there were plans to demolish this medieval street, until antique dealer Axel Vervoordt bought the Vlaeykensgang and had it restored.

Antwerpen-Centraal (Antwerp Central) is the name of the main railway station in Antwerp. The original building was constructed between 1895 and 1905; it replaced the wooden train station from the mid 19th century. The stone clad terminus buildings were designed by architect L. Delacenserie. It has a huge dome above the waiting room and eight smaller towers of which six were demolished during the 1950s. Fortunately they were reconstructed in 2009 together with several ornaments, including large lion statues. The rich interior is lavishly decorated with more than twenty different kinds of marble and stone. Antwerpen-Centraal has been voted one of the most beautiful railway stations in the world on several occasions, including by Newsweek, Mashable and The Telegraph.

The Begijnhof (Beguinage) was founded in 1258 and formed a separate parish. The beguinage is spread over 11 narrow streets and counts 95 houses. The front doors of the houses bear the name of a saint or a biblical scene. Some façades have panels depicting the Stations of the Cross. The current buildings date mainly from the 17th century. The beguinage is like a village in the middle of the city, surrounded by brick walls and accessible through four gates. At the centre of the beguinage stands the baroque Sint-Margaretakerk (St Margaret's Church). Construction started in the 17th century, and it was not until a century later that the upper part of the façade and the bell tower were completed. The Beguinage was restored in the 1990s and was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

The former Cornelius tower - dating back to the 14th century - was part of the old city fortifications. It was transformed into the Zimmertoren (Zimmer Tower) in 1930. Clockmaker and astronomer Louis Zimmer donated the Jubilee Clock to the town of Lier in honour of Belgium's 100th anniversary. The Jubilee Clock on the front of the tower captivates everyone who pays a visit. The clock shows time indications on all continents, phases of the moon, times of tides and many other periodic phenomena. Nowadays the Zimmertoren is without a doubt the most famous landmark in Lier.

Lier is a town with 38,000 inhabitants located at the confluence of the Grote Nete and Kleine Nete rivers. The Binnennete, a closed section of the Kleine Nete, runs through the town centre. No wonder Lier is known as the “Netestad”. Lier has a rich history and was already inhabited in Roman times. In the Middle Ages, it was an important trading town and a member of the Hanseatic League. Today, Lier is best known for its picturesque town centre with its charming squares, narrow streets and historic buildings. The inhabitants of Lier are also known as “schapenkoppen” (sheep heads). This nickname comes from a legend in which Duke John II wanted to thank the inhabitants for their contribution to the battle against Mechelen in the 14th century. As a reward, the city council could choose between a university or a cattle market. The council chose the cattle market (the university came a little later in Leuven). The duke is said to have remarked, “Oh, those “schapenkoppen” , in response to this choice.

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.

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.