Ieper city of peace

Ieper (Ypres) is a Belgian city located in the Flemish region Westhoeck in the province of West Flanders, near the French border. The first mention of Ieper comes from 1066 year. Then there is the East of the small river created a small settlement, which began to develop. It is a city with a rich and varied past: from the Middle Ages to the times of glory, becoming the most important trade center of the textile next to Bruges and Gent, in Flanders, through the years of invasions and occupations by the French, English and Spanish until the twentieth century, when during the First World War it was almost razed to the ground. After the war, the old town was carefully rebuilt. Today, its former glory is reminiscent of numerous historic buildings. The most important of them are: the monumental gothic hall (Lakenhal), the Gothic cathedral of St. Martin (Sint-Maartenskerk), the 12th century church of St. Nicholas (Sint-Niklaaskerk) and built in 1927 year city gate called Menenpoort.

Hall - Flemish Lakenhalle. The name comes from the Flemish word laken, meaning the high quality wool used for making fabrics. In the Middle Ages, there was the Ypres shopping center. They were a place of sale and storage of fabrics supplied here by a river channel called Ieperlee (or the Ypres canal).

At that time, the city was one of the leaders in fabric making among the cities of Flanders. The Cloth Hall consisted of a series of buildings surrounding a rectangular courtyard. Construction work was started already in 1200 year. They lasted over 100 years. The construction was finally completed in 1304 year. Until the middle of the 1840 year, a small river called Ieperlee was passing through the city.

Cloth Hall, fot. PM

It reached the west end of the Cloth Hall. Here, small boats could land their goods. In the Cloth Hall was the final control by the officials of the goods, which then fell into the hands of merchants.
The lower level of the Cloth Hall consisted of rooms with brick vaults. In order to make it easier for shoppers and customers to have access to the salons and shops, the hall has 48 doors on the southern façade facing the market. Cloths and wool were sold mainly in the cloths, but there were also days when merchants sold vegetables and goods here. On the floor the halls were also connected together. Some of them were more decorated than others. The roof at this level consisted of powerful wooden beams. Halls were used by merchants as storage rooms and as banquet rooms. City Council used them as meeting rooms.

Neuwerck photo. PM

In one of the main rooms the walls were decorated with 12 frescoes painted by Ferdinand Pauwels. They depicted scenes from the history of the city in the years 1187 to 1388. The remaining walls were decorated with paintings depicting the merchants painted by artist Louis Delbeke. The Council Hall was located in the north of the Cloth Hall, on the ground floor. Here the decor was particularly impressive.

Neuwerck is a building built in the years 1619-1622. It was built in Renaissance style. It has two upper floors, the first of which is connected to the upper floor of the gothic hall. In 1862 year renovation took place.

This part of the Cloth Hall had a chapel, frescoes, stained glass and a fireplace. The frescoes depict figures of Counts of Flanders. The first and second floors support on the pillars. They are a covered walkway with vaults throughout the eastern part of the Cloth Hall. This passage leads to St Martin's Cathedral.
The oldest part of the hall is the bell tower. The foundation stone was built in 1201 a year by Count Flanders Baudin IX. The task of the bell tower was to inform about the imminent threat. It had three levels. The ground floor was used as a prison. Since the 14th century the belfry also served as a town hall. It also housed a treasury and armory.

There were also meetings of representatives of city guilds. In the tower were also archives city. In the Middle Ages, there was a cruel habit of throwing black cats from the tower, which were supposed to be a symbol of black magic. Nowadays in the city there is a cat festival every three years. One of his points is throwing toys of cats from the tower.
The tower also contains a carillon consisting of 49 bells. It tunes every hour.

Cloth Hall, fot. PM

Cloth Hall, fot. PM

Donkerpoort is a corridor located on the ground floor of the belfry, in the middle of the southern façade. The corridor leads from the southern side of the market, through the center of the cloth hall to the north side of the cloth hall. You can go here to St Martin's Cathedral. In the center of the corridor there are two gates, on the right and left, each leading to the courtyard of the hall. In the corridor we can also see a missile fired from a gun called the Big Bertha, which the Germans during the First World War bombed Ypres.

Ypres's firing began in November 1914. 22 November bombs fired by Germans completely destroyed the roof of the Cloth Hall. 19 April 1915 years German troops began a work of destruction from the vicinity of Houthulst. Using a new gun, named a Big Bertha, resumed firing the city. Shots of a diameter of 42 centimeters leveled to the groung entire city, including the Cloth Hall. Only part of the bell tower survived. All documents and works of art located in the cloth Hall were destroyed forever.

After the war in the year 1928, the restoration of the Cloth Hall was begun. It lasted until 1967 a year. Both the hall and the belfry were rebuilt according to their historical appearance. Thanks to this, the bell tower was declared on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

Cathedral of St. Martin, fot. PM

Church St. Martin is a copy of a Gothic episcopal church built in place of the Romanesque church of the X or XI century. Construction started in 1230 year. The work lasted until the year 1370.

The Cathedral is accessible to visitors outside the church services (Holy Masses 12.30-14.00). Inside the spacious aisle there are not many decorations. An exception is the rosette over the entrance to the southern transept (it is a tribute to Albert I, considered a national hero), and a side altar with a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary of Thuyne.

In the cathedral there are tombs: Cornelius Jansen, bishop Ypres in the years 1635-1638, creator of the Jansenist theological movement, and Count Robert of Bethune called the Lion of Flanders.
The tower of the cathedral rises to the height of 100 meters. It is not open to tourists.

lapidary contains the ruins of deanery of St. Martin. There are large pieces of walls, leveled with the land of the Cathedral. They are a tangible evidence of the horrors and destruction that Ypres suffered during the First World War. The monastery building can be visited on the north side of the Cathedral.

Building of the Court- Main Market Square 1. Before World War I there was a Bishop's Palace. Then hospital was created here.

After the end of the war, the building was rebuilt in an eclectic style, designed by the architect responsible for the reconstruction of Ypres, Jules Coomans.

From the side of Torhoutstraat you can see the old entrance gate with the inscription Hopital Notre Dame. The whole wall survived the war and is one of the few examples of the original architecture of pre-war Ypres.

Court building in Ieper, fot. PM

Building of Commercial Court in Ieper, fot. PM

Commercial court building (fl. Kasstelrij) is located at the Main Market Square 10. The building was built in the Renaissance style in the 15th century. During this period the feudal counts of Flanders were divided into districts (Castellania). Managed by the Viscounts or castellans.

After the French Revolution in the 1790 year, the Castellan institution was abolished. In year 1800 the building was redeemed by the city and was called Hotel de Chatellenie. After the First World War the building was rebuilt in Renaissance style by J. Coomans. On the roof of the building were added three floors of seven dormers in a row.

It was an interference in the historic look of the building. Also over the windows on the first floor seven medallions depicting the seven sins were added during the post-war reconstruction of the building. It was designed by a sculptor from Ghent Alois De Beule.
To 1967 year the building was the Town Hall, which was moved to the rebuilt Cloth Hall. At present the Commercial Court is located here.

Monastery gate, Ieper city theater, fot. PM

Monastery gate - Municipal Theater - the original gate (fl. Kloosterpoort) comes from about 1500 year. It is the entrance to the deanery of Saint. Martin, who was abolished in 1560 a year after the diocese of Ypres was announced. It was rebuilt in the classical style in 1780 year and renovated in 1938 year.

Municipal Theater (Fl. Stadsschouwburg) was initially used as a parish house. In 1803 he changed the owner and created a theater here. During the First World War, like most buildings in Ypres, it was completely destroyed. Rebuilt in the 1930s.

Memorials to the victims of World War I and II in Ieper

Monument to the victims of World War I dedicated to 155 civilian victims and hundreds of thousands of soldiers who lost their lives as a result of World War I. The monument was designed by architect Jules Homere Martin Coomans (1871-1937) in 1924 years.

He was also responsible for the reconstruction of Ypres, in a traditional, historical style, after the war. In the years 1924-1926 the statue was made by a sculptor from Ghent Alois De Beule (1861-1935).

Initially Coomans planned to place the monument in the east wing of the Cloth Hall.

Monument to the victims of the First and Second World War, photo PM

However, they were not finally reconstructed, so the monument was placed on the wall of a building opposite the western part of the Cloth Hall. The unveiling was on 27 June 1926 year.

In the 2010 year, a new plaque was placed and dedicated to this monument to the victims of both the First and Second World Wars.

Menin gate memorial

A memorial to the tens of thousands of British soldiers and the British community (except for New Zealand soldiers who have their own monument). Inside, on the walls, were engraved the names of 54.389 officers and soldiers who had died in Ypres before 16 August 1917, whose tombs were never found.

In the center, both on the north and south side of the gate, there are wide staircases leading to the old defensive walls and loggias. The inscription above both entrances reads:

AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES
OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL
IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM
THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED
THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL
GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES
IN DEATH

The statue was built in the eastern part of Ypres. In the place through which passed practically every soldier fought to the east of Ypres. Many of them did not come back. During the war there was no gate in this place, only the moat and fragments of the old city fortifications.

Menin gate memorial, Iepre, fot. pm

The Menin gate in honor of the missing was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. Sculptures are the work of Sir William Reid Dick. The dimensions of the monument are impressive: 36,5 meters long and 20 meters wide. Both ends are completed with an arched gate of 9 meters wide and 14,5 meters high, supported on both sides by columns. At the top, on the east side is a monument of lion, and below it an inscription:

TO THE ARMIES
OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
WHO STOOD HERE
FROM 1914 TO 1918
AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD
WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE

The same inscription is on the second gate on the west side. It is topped with a sculpture of a sarcophagus with a flag and a wreath.

The path leading through the old defensive walls can be reached to 1100 meters, the smallest war cemetery in Ypres located at the gate of Lille.

Today the Menin Gate Memorial is one of the most famous war memorials in the world. It is also probably the only monument at which daily celebrations take place. They always have room at 20. This ceremony was inaugurated 1 August 1928 year.

It was an expression of gratitude for all the soldiers who fought in Ypres, especially those whose graves were never found. The tradition of the last post was interrupted for 4 years during the Second World War. On the day of the liberation of Ypres, by the General Maczek Division, the tradition of homage to the fallen soldiers was returned. The celebration starts with a minute of silence. The ceremony is attended by both residents and tourists. During the ceremony, the car traffic through the gate is closed.

Gate of Lille in Ieper, fot. PM

Gate of Lille (fl. Rijselpoort) is one of several entrances to the old fortified city of Ieper. It is the only gate in the city that survived the bombing of the German troops during the First World War. At the beginning of its existence, Ieper was a small settlement on the Ieper River. It had two entrances. One in the north, the other in the south. Lille is the original southern gate. This entrance to the city was called Mesenpoort, that is to say, the door to Mesen (Messines). Another name is the Gate of Lille, as the route leads to the French city of Lille. The Gate of Lille is also known under its Flemish name Rijselpoort. Round towers are the oldest part of the stone walls. They come from 1385 year and are an example of the Burgundian period of city history. The bridge over the gate was added during later modifications of the city fortifications. At the end of Rijselstraat the road leaves the city under the Rijselspoort (Gate of Lille). On both sides are defensive walls built on earlier medieval walls by a great military engineer working for King Louis XIV, Sébastien Le Prestre of the Marquis de Vauban. He was responsible for the construction of the fortifications in over 300 cities and towns in France and abroad.

War cemeteries in Ypres are the burial sites of thousands of soldiers killed in the fighting that took place here during the First World War. There are more than a hundred cemeteries here, on which English soldiers and those from C countries rest ommonwealth (Commonwealth of Nations) , one German cemetery, two French and one Belgian. Cemeteries meet here everywhere, between estates of detached houses and sometimes in the honest field, among the crops of maize. Often difficult to find, despite many information boards. All cemeteries are exceptionally well cared for and generally accessible.

War Cemetery in Ieper, fot. PM

Groby na cmentarzu wojennym w Ieper, Belgia.

War Cemetery in Ieper, fot. PM

Ramparts cemetery was launched by the French in November 1914 year. Initially, the fallen French soldiers were buried there. Later, their bodies were moved to another cemetery. In the period from February 1915 to April 1918, soldiers of the British Commonwealth were buried here. It is one of the smallest military cemeteries in Ypres. The 197 soldiers were buried here:

English 162
Canadians 10
Australians 11
New Zealanders 14

The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. It is located in a secluded spot on the top of the old walls, next to the moat that runs around the old town.

Cmentarz wojenny Ramparts w Ieper. Belgia.

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/places/ypres-salient-cemeteries.htm This is a very detailed and interesting website describing the warfare conducted at Ieper during I World War.