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

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.

Antwerpen-Centraal (Antwerp Central) is the name of the main railway station in Antwerp. The original station 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 the Bruges 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. Nowadays the railway station is considered being the finest example of railway architecture in Belgium. In 2009 the American magazine “Newsweek” judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world's fourth greatest train station. Five years later it was awarded by the British-American magazine “Mashable” with the first place for the most beautiful railway station in the world.