Belgium's Flanders region
It is only a matter of time before the picturesque old towns of Antwerp and Ghent are declared World Heritage Sites - they are already on the list of suggestions.
Together with Bruges, whose medieval town center was placed under protection 20 years ago, three Flemish cities thus bear the Unesco seal.
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Which is an example of how the Flemings set standards from a building and even more so from an art historical point of view.
Between the 15th and 17th centuries, the margraviate of Antwerp produced four dozen painters of European standing.
If you add the county of Flanders, the county of Leuven and the dominion of Mechelen, that is, the former heartlands of the Dutch-speaking region in northern Belgium, the number of artists quickly reaches three digits.
Which in turn explains Flanders' density of museums (the Antwerp Plantin-Moretus House, for example, is the only museum in the world on the World Heritage List).
Then there are the splendid churches of the Catholic region;
The St. Bavo Cathedral in Ghent alone has 22 altars, including the polyptych “The Adoration of the Lamb of God” by Jan van Eyck (the eight-year renovation of the winged altar was only completed a few months ago).
Source: WORLD infographic
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Van Eyck in general: After the “Rubens Year” 2018 and the “Bruegel Year” 2019, the Flemings actually wanted to celebrate the founder of old Dutch painting in 2020: At the exhibition “Van Eyck.
An optical illusion ”the curators worked for four years.
They succeeded in bringing 13 of the 23 works by van Eyck (approx. 1390–1441) still in existence to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent.
But just six weeks after the opening, the exhibition had to close on March 12, 2020 due to the pandemic, only the virtual form is still online (flemishmasters.com).
Flanders has therefore decided to extend a number of other art events in Ghent and Bruges until June 2021.
The museums in Belgium have been able to reopen since December 1, 2020, as well as shops and hotels;
Restaurants offer take-away.
Cycling between the treetops and through the water
Perhaps the idea of biking over the treetops with a glass of jenever, the juniper schnapps that is typical of the region around Hasselt, came about.
But maybe also because the east of Flanders, criss-crossed by a 2000-kilometer network of cycle paths, looks rather rural.
Always pedaling along fields, forests and canals?
That calls for variety, and the Province of Limburg has now made sure of that.
"Cycling through the water" in Bokrijk: The route leads across the lakes of the nature reserve "De Wijers"
Source: Limburg Tourism
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It started in spring 2016 with the project “Cycling through the water”: thanks to a kind of concrete channel that was drawn through the pond landscape of De Weijers, cyclists can cross small lakes there below the water level.
The next highlight followed in June 2019, literally.
Because an elevated cycle path makes it possible to experience Bosland, Flanders' largest forest area, from the air.
The biker treetop path winds its way up to a height of ten meters over a length of 700 meters.
By the way, hikers can also use it.
An elevated cycle path allows you to experience Bosland, Flanders' largest forest area, from the air
Source: luc daelemans © VisitLimburg.be
Hiking in the "Tiktok City" Ostend
“No more boring walks on the beach” - Ostend used this simple slogan to attract young bathers at the beginning of 2019.
A year later, the Flemish seaside resort could not only look forward to an increase in visitors of 20,000 holidaymakers;
it is now officially called “Belgium's first Tiktok city”.
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Ostend's account on the controversial Chinese video portal already has more than 45,000 followers and is busy collecting likes.
Prancing teenagers who follow a Tiktok hiking trail designed by the tourism office to shoot music videos in ten beautiful places in the city are apparently perfect popular figures.
Source: WORLD infographic
Fishing in the North Sea on horseback
On April 5th at 1.30 p.m. the horse fishermen on the beach of Oostduinkerke will start the 2021 crab season. An appointment as safe as the horses in the surf.
Because when fishing and then selling the crabs on the beach promenade, the rules of distance and hygiene must be observed.
By the end of October 2021, the men will put on their oilskins 36 times - and the horses an eight-meter-long trawl.
With a little luck, after three hours in which the Brabant draft horses wade chest-deep through the sea, the shrimps will wriggle by the kilo in the baskets.
The tradition of fishing with horses was preserved on Flanders' North Sea coast
Source: REUTERS
For centuries France and England also fished in this way, but only the Flemings on their 68 kilometers long North Sea coast kept knowledge and water horses.
And with the recognition as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the tradition became a tourist attraction (visitkoksijde.be).
The dark history of the city of Ypres
99 percent of the buildings in the city of Ypres were pulverized at the end of 1918, only the post office survived the First World War.
Winston Churchill wanted to make the ruins a memorial, but the Ypres rebuilt their city true to the original - including the historic cloth hall, into which the "In Flanders Fields" museum moved in 1998.
Around Ypres, where the world's first use of poison gas in 1915, 600,000 soldiers died.
Lobster on cocoa
If you love food pairing, you will think Flanders is a land of milk and honey.
The idea of combining food, drinks and spices free of conventions goes back to the British star chef Heston Blumenthal.
But the Flemings turned it into a lifestyle.
And a business.
Oysters with trapist beer, lobster on cocoa, dried fish in popcorn - anything is possible as long as two flavors overlap.
The Foodpairing Company, which was founded in 2010 and has 10,000 flavor and aroma combinations in its database, always provides new ideas.
Source: WORLD infographic
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In addition, the company's founder, Peter Coucquyt, is a specialist himself: for 13 years he was at the stove with Peter Goossens from “Hof van Cleve”, Belgium's only three-star chef (there is no shortage of one- and two-star restaurants in the region, according to the tourism office there are almost 100 decorated Top chefs).
Food pairing events are also organized by breweries (there are over 100 in Flanders), chocolatiers (2,000 praline boutiques cover northern Belgium) and street chefs (large food festivals are Antwerp Proeft and Hapje-Tapje in Leuven).
The quote
"Antwerp is a perfect breeding ground for people with a penchant for creativity"
Says Dries Van Noten, who comes from Antwerp and works there.
In 1989 the designer opened the “Het Modepalais” boutique in the Nationalestraat.
A few minutes' walk from his flagship store, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene and Walter Van Beirendonck also show their designs, with four of the legendary “Antwerp Six” still present in the fashion district of the old drapery city.
And for those who want to see the designers up close: On the first weekend in September 2021, the “MoMu” fashion museum will reopen its doors after more than three years of renovation and expansion - the “Antwerp Six” are invited as guests of honor.
Quirky, record-breaking, typical: You can find more parts of our regional geography series here.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We are happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: Welt am Sonntag