Colorful apartment in the center of Ypres

The Neighborhood

Ypres boasts a historic Cloth Hall, impressive Cathedral and medieval Market Square. Despite centuries of history, however, this city is best known for what happened here a little over a hundred years ago. It is the unofficial capital of Flanders Fields, site of numerous battles during the First World War. The “City of Peace” still commemorates these events daily, at the In Flanders Fields Museum and under its Menin Gate memorial. Night after night, the Last Post sounds in tribute to the soldiers who fell, ensuring that we never forget this war. Ypres is a small town located in West Flanders, about 20 kilometers north of the border with France. Ypres is called Ypres in French. The city has its origins in the Middle Ages, when the first houses appeared on this site on the river Ypreslee. Ypres is nowadays mainly known for the role it played during the First World War (1914-1918). The German troops tried in vain to occupy Ypres during four battles for Ypres. Today, the many graves, monuments and places around Ypres are reminders of this era that cost the lives of no fewer than half a million soldiers in Ypres and the surrounding area. During the war, Ypres was almost completely destroyed. The Ypres you see today is partly a reconstruction of what the city looked like before the war, supplemented with new districts. Whoever walks through the streets of Ypres now would almost think that he / she is looking at houses that date from the Middle Ages. Hill 60, also called Heuvel 70, is a hill near Ypres. The approximately sixty meter high hill is a war site from the First World War. Here British and Germans have fought several times for the hill. Famous is the reconquest of the hill by the British on April 17, 1915. After weeks of digging tunnels, six mines were detonated in these tunnels. In the space of about ten seconds, the German defenses were destroyed. Today you can visit Hill 60. It is now largely overgrown with shrubs and trees. On the hill you can still see remnants of bunkers. A monument has also been placed on the hill in memory of the fallen soldiers. When you are in Ypres, there is more to experience than sights. While you are in the center of Ypres, you can also spend time shopping. On and around the Grote Markt you will find enough shops to keep you busy for a while. In addition to the well-known chains, you will find plenty of independent shops in Ypres. The best shopping streets in the center are the Boterstraat, the Neermarkt, the Menenstraat and the Grote Markt itself. With the exception of a few shopping Sundays per year, most shops in Ypres are closed on Sundays. A museum you must visit when you are in Ypres is the In Flanders Fields Museum. This museum shows you in an interactive way what caused the First World War, how the First World War was sold and the post-war period. It shows how devastating the war was for Ypres and the surrounding area of ​​Ypres. You can also see a lot of attributes that come from the war and you learn about the four battles of Ypres. During your tour of the museum you will be accompanied by your personal poppy bracelet. This ensures that you get to hear personal stories during your museum visit, in your language. You can keep the bracelet afterwards. You can also return it, where you will receive your deposit back. The In Flanders Fields Museum is located in the Lakenhallen in the center of Ypres. It is a permanent exhibition that is open every day of the week. The museum is closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. If you enter the center of Ypres from the east, you will probably drive through the Menin Gate. The Menin Gate spans the Menin Street. The current gate dates from 1927 and has been put away where a completely different gate used to be. The new Menin Gate was built by the British. It is a large memorial to the more than fifty thousand British soldiers who disappeared during the First World War. They almost certainly died during the war, but they have not been found or identified. The names of these soldiers can be found on the many panels that can be found in the monument. Remains of soldiers are still found during excavation work in the area. Once these are identified as those of a missing Briton, they are reburied in an official ceremony. Afterwards, his name is removed from the memorials of the unknowns. The Last Post is still played every day at 8 pm under the Menin Gate in memory of the fallen soldiers. If you have spent a whole day in and around Ypres and have immersed yourself in the history, this ceremonial trumpet signal will make an extra impression. The Grote Markt is the central square of Ypres. This square has been the center of the city for centuries. According to most tourists, the Grote Markt is by far the most beautiful place in the city. This is partly due to the impressive Cloth Halls and the belfry, located on the northwest side of the square. Just as beautiful is the Nieuwerck, which nowadays houses the Ypres town hall, and the catering establishments on the north side of the Grote Markt. The south side is mainly dominated by shops, supplemented by some catering establishments. The Court of Justice is a building that was added after the reconstruction of the square. Like the rest of the city of Ypres, the Grote Markt was largely destroyed during WWII. I. From the 1920s, the Grand Place was restored in a historicizing reconstruction architecture. The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwgasthuis was then replaced by the Court of Appeal. For more detailed information we refer to the websites “visitflanders” and “toerismeieper”