WESTERN FLANDERS 123Veurne 8
25 km (15 miles) SW of Oostende.
Road Map A2. * 12,000. £ @
n Grote Markt 29; (058) 335531.
http://www.vvvveurne.be
The pretty town of Veurne,
sometimes called Little Bruges
owing to its historic charm,
clusters around an attractive
Grote Markt rimmed with 15th-
and 16th-century step-gabled
façades. Its fine Flemish-
Renaissance Stadhuis, built
between 1596 and 1612,
has interor walls lined with
embossed Córdoba leather.
This building served as head-
quarters for the Belgian army
in 1914. Behind it is the
13th-century St-Walpurgakerk,
with its soaring nave lit like
a lantern by stained glass.
St Walburga, an 8th-century
missionary nun, is patron saint
of the town. In the Appelmarkt
close by is the 15th-century
St-Niklaaskerk, with three
coolly elegant aisles divided
by sandstone arches. Its
13th-century brick tower is also
a belfry, containing a carillon
installed in 1961 and a small
carillon museum.
On the southern outskirts
is Bakkerijmuseum, a museum
of bakery set in 17th-century
almshouses and farm buildings.
It takes visitors on a historic
tour from grain to bread.
P Stadhuis
Grote Markt 27. Tel (058) 335531.
# Apr–mid-Nov. &
P St-Niklaaskerk
Appelmarkt. Tel (058) 335531.
# mid-Jun–mid-Sep. & (tower
and carillon museum).
E Bakkerijmuseum
Albert I-laan 2. Tel (058) 313897.
# Jul–Aug: daily; Sep & Apr–Jun:
Sat–Thu; Oct–Mar: Sun–Thu. &^famed for its influential Abbey
of Our Lady of the Dunes,
called Ten Duinen (or Ter
Duinen) for short. Founded
by the Benedictines in 1107,
it became Cistercian in 1138
and was destroyed by the
Protestant rebels nicknamed
geuzen (sea beggars) in 1566.
The museum Ten Duinen 1138
breathes life into the excavated
remains that can be seen in
the adjoining park. Just to the
south is the Zuid Abdijmolen,
a wooden windmill dating
from the year 1773.
Located in St-Idesbald is
the impressive Museum Paul
Delvaux, containing the largest
single collection of this great
Surrealist’s work. Set in awhitewashed villa built in
traditional style, the museum
was opened by the Paul
Delvaux Foundation in 1982
with the artist’s blessing. It
includes a number of draw-
ings, paintings and sculptures
as well as personal possessions
that have a bearing on the
artist’s work, as well as a
reconstruction of his studio.E Ten Duinen 1138
Koninklijke Prinslaan 6-8, Koksijde.
Tel (058) 533950. # Feb–Dec:
Tue–Sun. & http://www.tenduinen.be
E Museum Paul Delvaux
Delvauxlaan 42, St-Idesbald.
Tel (058) 5212299. # Mar–
early Jan: Tue–Sun. & - =
http://www.delvauxmuseum.comPROCESSION OF THE
PENITENTS AT VEURNE
Every year on the last Sunday of
July – a day that coincides with
the town’s Kermis festival and its
funfair in the Grote Markt – 1,000
citizens of Veurne dress in biblical
costume for the Boetprocessie, the
Procession of Penitence. Making a
circuit of the centre of the town,
successive groups recount the
most famous stories of the Bible.
Among them are 400 boetelingen
(penitents) – anonymous men
and women making a genuine
act of religious devotion. Wearing
monkish brown robes with masked hoods, and often bare-
foot, they carry large wooden crosses or pull heavy floats
bearing religious statues. After the folkloric early scenes
from Adam and Eve to the Nativity, the mood darkens as
the Crucifixion of Christ approaches, surrounded by increas-
ing numbers of penitents. The crowd looks on in near
silence. The people of Veurne have been re-enacting this
story since the 1640s. In charge is a venerable society
called the Sodaliteit, whose members officiate wearing
17th-century outfits of black velvet robes and red hats.Excavated ruins of the 12th-century Ten Duinen abbey at KoksijdeKoksijde 9
26 km (16 miles) W of Oostende.
Road Map A2. * 21,000. @ v
n Zeelaan 303; (058) 512 910.
http://www.koksijde.be
A popular modern seaside
resort, Koksijde has beach-
fronts at St-Idesbald and
Koksijde-Bad. During the
Middle Ages, the town was
Veurne’s citizens dressed
as figures from the Bible