Het Bintjeshof

Westvletern Trappist Beer

by Martin_S.

Once again wherever we found ourselves you could have beer either produced locally or with a local theme. Westvlerten is one of the trappist beers. Please take a look at the website attached here, they explain much better than I ever could.

Beguinage

by theH

this beautiful medieval part of the city is like a small, quite village inside the busy centre. The whole Beguinage is part of the UNESCO world heritage, so I guess, when you visit Courtrai, you just can't miss this!

Kortrijk 1302 museum.

by breughel

The Museum about the battle of the "Golden Spurs" is essentially an audio guide museum.
A lot of explanations are given by the audio guide ( several languages) included in the entry price but little historic material is shown about that battle of Groeninge. The reason is that not much exists anymore.
The comments are interesting because they highlight the political, economical, fiscal, social, military aspects of that conflict between, actually a part of Flanders and the French King Philippe IV le Bel, suzerain of the County of Flanders. It was interesting to show the premises and the historic complexity of the conflict.
Also interesting but better known are the tactical aspects of this battle where infantry destroyed heavy cavalry.

The film projection following the visit shows the evolution of this feudal conflict to a Flemish nationalist political movement leading to the transformation of Belgium in a federal (co federal?) state.

Open: each day.
1/04 - 30/09 from 10 to 18 h
1/10 - 31/03 from 10 to 17 h.
Price: 6 €, reduced 4€ or 1 €.

Gravenkapel-Count's chapel.

by breughel

The "Gravenkapel" Count’s chapel built in 1370-1374 on behalf of Count Lodewijk van Male is quite remarkable for its elegance.
The chapel is best known for the portraits of all Counts of Flanders painted on the walls. Lodewijk van Male and his 31 predecessors were painted by Jan van Hasselt in 1378. His successors till Emperor Charles Quint - Keizer Karel (Carlos I in Spain) were added later by various artists. There have been many restaurations of the paintings who had been overcoated with chalk around 1800!

What I most liked in the chapel is the albaster statue (1382) of Holy Catherine to whom the chapel is dedicated. The sculptor was André Beauneveu. He made here an admirable statue with a slightly déhanché port and a kind but impersonal smile. Holy Catherine keeps in her left hand the breaking wheel on wich she was tormented and in the right hand the sword of her beheading.
Quite remarkable statue protected behind glass. In 1556 the statue had to be burried to protect her from the iconoclasts.

Kortrijk, BE

by dromosapien

"dromosapien"

St Elizabethbegijnhof

- a walled cluster of small houses that are not a convent, but an enclave for unwed feminists

founded: 1228, by countess Johanna van Constantinopel (1891 statue)
constructed: 17th century (the current buildings)

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* Kortrijk / Courtrai

population: 73,650

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"Broeltorens"

- last remnant of the fortification wall that once enclosed Kortrijk

south (right): Speyetoren

constructed: 1385 with the Broelbrug (bridge)
use: fortification to control the River Lys traffic

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north (left): Ingelborchtoren

constructed: 1415
use: armory

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"Belfort"

- bell tower of the 'cloth hall' that was razed in 1897

constructed: 1309
address: Grote Markt

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*Everyone loves a festival, so plan ahead and don’t miss it on your visit to Kortrijk