Bergues

On the market of Bergues and in the adjacent streets, there are a striking number of flags with the Flemish lion. The sympathetic, popular northerners, the Ch?tis, still feel part Flemish. "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis", the most popular French film since Louis de Funès, was shot here in Bergues.

The city of Bergues is known in Dutch as Sint-Winoksbergen or Bergen. The city was built between the two heights of the Groenenberg hill. At one height was the fortification of the Flemish counts, on the other the abbey of Sint-Winoksbergen.

The very favorable location by the sea for trade and the presence of an important spiritual center such as the abbey meant a strong stimulus for the growth of the city. Bergen became a port and a textile centre of regional importance, with its own wool market since 1276 and 2 well-attended cloth and cloth markets in the following centuries.

Located on the border between France and Flanders, the city was regularly burned down and looted.

The French revolution marks the beginning of an economic collapse, a continuous decline and a permanent impoverishment.

During the First World War, long-range artillery and aerial bombardment plagued the municipality. In 1940, as part of the defence of her great competitor Dunkirk, Bergen was the scene of fierce fighting, artillery shelling and bombing that struck her in the heart.

Despite this turbulent past, the town is more than worth a visit.

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