Ieper

Founded in the 10th century as a stop in the Paris-Brugge trade route because it was a major textile producing city, Ieper’s modern day claim to fame is due to WWI. Thousands of soldiers died in the fields surrounding this city and lie at rest in the many cemeteries spreading throughout this area.

Ieper actually has two fabulous pieces of Gothic architecture. First, the Stadhuis and St. Maartenskathedraal.

Ieper's Stadhuis.



Buddy in front of Ieper's Stadhuis.



St. Maartenskathedraal, Ieper, Belgium.











East of town, Menenpoort (or Menin Gate) is a moving war memorial built along the route WWI Allied solders took towards the front line. Troops on the “Menin Road” endured brutal German artillery attacks. After WWI, the British built this vast arch in memory of the 300,000 soldiers who perished in this corridor. The names of some 55,000 soldiers who died before August 17th, 1917 and whose bodies are missing are inscribed in the walls of the arch. Since 1928, every night at 8 pm, traffic is stopped at the gate as members of the local fire brigade sound the Last Post on silver bugles, gifts of the British Legion. The practice was interrupted during WWII, but was resumed the night Polish troops liberated the town on September 6, 1944.

Menin Gate in Ieper. The arch is filled with their names and regiment, as well as the year of death.





Poppy wreaths commemorate the fallen.