Page 129 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

WEST AND EAST FLANDERS  127

8 Veurne
25 km (15 miles) SW of Oostende.
Road Map A2. * 12,000. £ @
n Grote Markt 29; (058) 335531.
∑ veurne.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 Excavated ruins of the 12th-century Ten Duinen abbey at Koksijde
embossed Córdoba leather. This
building served as headquarters town was famed for its whitewashed villa built in
for the Belgian army in 1914. influential Abbey of Our Lady traditional style, the museum
Behind it is the 13th-century of the Dunes, called Ten Duinen was opened by the Paul
St-Walpurgakerk, with its (or Ter Duinen) for short. Delvaux Foundation in 1982
soaring nave lit like a lantern Founded by the Benedictines with the artist’s blessing. It
by stained glass. St Walburga, in 1107, it became Cistercian in includes a number of drawings,
an 8th-century missionary nun, 1138 and was destroyed by the paintings and sculptures as well
is patron saint of the town. In Protestant rebels nicknamed as personal possessions that
the Appelmarkt close by is the geuzen (sea beggars) in 1566. have a bearing on the artist’s
15th-century St-Niklaaskerk, The museum Ten Duinen 1138 work, as well as a reconstruction
with three coolly elegant aisles breathes life into the excavated of his studio.
divided by sandstone arches. Its remains that can be seen in the
13th-century brick tower is also adjoining park. Just to the south E Ten Duinen 1138
a belfry, containing a carillon is the Zuid Abdijmolen, a Koninklijke Prinslaan 6, Koksijde.
installed in 1961 and a small wooden windmill dating from Tel (058) 533950. Open Feb–Dec:
carillon museum. the year 1773. Tue–Sun. & ∑ tenduinen.be
On the southern outskirts is Located in St-Idesbald is E Museum Paul Delvaux
Bakkerijmuseum, a museum the impressive Museum Paul Delvauxlaan 42, St-Idesbald.
of bakery set in 17th-century Delvaux, containing the largest Tel (058) 521229. Open Apr–Sep: Tue–
almshouses and farm buildings. single collection of this great Sun; Oct–Dec: Thu–Sun. & - =
It takes visitors on a historic tour Surrealist’s work. Set in a ∑ delvauxmuseum.com
from grain to bread.
P Stadhuis Procession of the Penitents at Veurne
Grote Markt 27. Tel (058) 335531. Every year on the last Sunday of July – a day that coincides with the
Open Apr–mid-Nov. &
town’s Kermis festival and its funfair in the Grote Markt – 1,000 citizens
P St-Niklaaskerk of Veurne dress in biblical costume for the Boetprocessie, the
Appelmarkt. Tel (058) 335531. Procession of Penitence. Making a circuit of the centre of the town,
Open mid-Jun–mid-Sep. & successive groups recount the most famous stories of the Bible.
(tower and carillon museum). Among them are 400 boetelingen (penitents) – anonymous men and
women making a genuine act of
E Bakkerijmuseum religious devotion. Wearing monkish
Albert I-laan 2. Tel (058) 313897. brown robes with masked hoods, and
Open Jul–Aug: daily; Sep–Jun: Sat– often barefoot, they carry large
Thu. Closed Jan . & - = wooden crosses or pull heavy floats
∑ bakkerijmuseum.be
bearing religious statues. After the
folkloric early scenes from Adam and
9 Koksijde Eve to the Nativity, the mood darkens
as the Crucifixion of Christ approaches,
26 km (16 miles) W of Oostende. surrounded by increasing numbers of
Road Map A2. * 21,000. @ v penitents. The crowd looks on in near
n Zeelaan 303; (058) 512 910. silence. The people of Veurne have
∑ visitor.koksijde.be been re-enacting this story since the
1640s. In charge is a venerable society
A popular modern seaside called the Sodaliteit, whose members
resort, Koksijde has beachfronts officiate wearing 17th-century outfits Veurne’s citizens dressed as figures
at St-Idesbald and Koksijde-Bad. of black velvet robes and red hats. from the Bible
During the Middle Ages, the

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