124 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp264–6 and pp288–91

Moving displays at In Flanders

Fields, Ieper’s Word War I museum

A Tour of World

War I Battlefields w

See pp126–7.

Kasteel

Beauvoorde 0

Wulveringemstraat 10, Veurne.
Road Map A2. Tel (058) 299229.
@ # Jul–Aug: daily; see website for
details. ¢ Nov–Feb. & 9 =
http://www.kasteelbeauvoorde.be

With its moat, brick turrets
and step gables as well as
its parkland setting, Kasteel
Beauvoorde is one of the
most attractive small
castles in Belgium.
An earlier castle
on the site was des-
troyed by Protestant
rebels in 1584, and
this classic Flemish
fortified manor was
built in its place in
the early 17th cen-
tury. Sympathetically restored
in the 19th century, the interior
contains furniture, carved
wood panelling and ceramics.

The controversial IJzertoren with its striking cross-shaped profile

IJzertoren q

IJzerdijk 49, Diksmuide; 15 km (9
miles) SE of Veurne. Road Map A2.
Tel (051) 500286. £ @ # daily;
see website for details. ¢ 3 weeks in
Jan. & - = http://www.ijzertoren.org

A vast cross, 84 m (275 ft) tall,
rises from the banks of the
River IJzer at Diksmuide and
towers over the surroundings.
This is the IJzertoren (IJzer
Tower), a monument to the
Flemish dead of World War I,
and a physical plea for peace.
Remarkably, it contains an
impressive museum on 22
floors, leading down from a
roof terrace with commanding

views over the surrounding

flat landscape. The main

theme is World War I, evoked

through photographs, videos,

artifacts, an extensive recon-

structed dugout and even the

smells of poison gas.

The tower is a controversial

monument and, until recently,

the focus of right-wing Flemish

nationalism. In fact, this is

the second tower on the site,

completed in 1965. The first,

built between 1928 and

1930, was mysteriously

blown up in 1946,

no doubt because

of its powerful sym-

bolic connotations.

Environs

Just 2 km (1 mile)

to the north of the

IJzertoren is the

Dodengang (Trench of Death):

preserved trenches where,

over 1915–18, the Belgian

army blocked German troops

from advancing across the

flooded IJzer. The German

military cemetery at Vladso,

6 km (4 miles) northeast,

contains the heartrending

sculptures Grieving Parents

by celebrated Expressionist

artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–

1945). Her 17-year-old son,

killed in 1914, is buried here.

E Dodengang

IJzerdijk 65, Diksmuide. Tel (051)

505344. 
        

        Apr–Sep: 9am–4:30pm

        
        

        daily (Oct–mid-Nov: Mon–Fri, mid-
        Nov–Apr: Tue–Fri).

        
        

Ieper e

32 km (20 miles) S of Veurne.

Road Map A2. * 35,000. £

@ n Lakenhalle, Grote Markt 34;

(057) 239220. http://www.ieper.be

Ypres in French and “Wipers”

to the thousands of British

troops who passed this way

during World War I, Ieper was

once a prosperous medieval

cloth town. In 1914, it found

itself just to the west of the

front line, the Ypres Salient,

and was demolish ed by shell-

ing over the next four years.

When peace returned, the citi-

zens reconstructed their town

as it had once been. Today,

the town acts as a centre for

visitors to the battlefields and

mili tary cemeteries. Its World

War I museum, In Flanders

Fields provides a moving

background, focussing on the

experiences of indi viduals. To

commemorate the dead, the

Last Post is played every even-

ing at the Menin Gate, a huge

stone arch with the names of

55,000 missing soldiers.

Environs

Located 5 km (3 miles) east

of Ieper, Bellewaerde Park is

a large theme park with an

open-air zoo and some 30

other attractions.

E In Flanders Fields

Grote Markt 34, Ieper Tel (057)

239 220. # Apr–mid–Nov:

10am–6pm daily; mid-Nov–Mar:

10am–5pm Tue–Sun. & =

Y Bellewaerde Park

E17/A19 Ieper, exit 3 Beselare,

Meenseweg 497, Ieper Tel (057)

468686. 
        

        late Mar–Jan. & 7

        
        

        0 - =

        
        

Ceramic plate from

Kasteel Beauvoorde