the Market Square in Ieper - the Cloth Hall - In Flanders Fields Museum

In spite of their medieval appearance, no building in Ieper is more than 100 years old. The city was shelled for the first time in October 1914, but remained habitable throughout the winter of 1914-1915. This changed in April 1915, with the start of the Second Battle of Ieper. The bombardments became more intense and the civilian population was evacuated. Its ruins continued to serve as bivouacs for British troops until the end of the war, by which time hardly a building was standing.

After the war there was a fierce discussion between the British, who wanted to preserve the ruins as a monument, and the local people, who wanted to rebuild their city. The local people prevailed.

The In Flanders Field Museum tells the story of the First World War as it unfolded in West Flanders. The museum is housed in the Cloth Hall, an important symbol of the city's wartime suffering and its reconstruction after the Armistice. The new permanent exhibition (opened on 11 June 2012) covers the invasion of Belgium, the war of movement in the autumn of 1914, the four years of trench warfare in the Westhoek, from the beach at Nieuwpoort to the River Leie (Lys) at Armentieres, the end of the war and its commemoration ever since.

Vl. Toeristisch bezienswaardigheden