Things to do in Belgium

The Vesdre River became best known for its heavy flooding in the summer of 2021, but it also brought wealth and industry to Verviers and the surrounding area. Since the Middle Ages, the wool industry flourished in the towns along the Vesder.

A severe storm lashed Belgium on Monday, 29 November 1897. Over a length of hundreds of metres, the sea dyke was washed away in the sea town Middelkerke. A drinking water reservoir did not remain unscathed either.

The banks of the Vesder in Pepinster are flanked by one of the most iconic facades of a textile factory, that of Textile de Pepinster.

During the First Battle of Ypres, on 1 November 1914 to be precise, Bavarian troops succeeded in capturing the West Flanders village of Wijtschate and the Croonaert Forest.

The eastern entrance to a canal tunnel has been reclaimed by nature after several decades.

Two axle trams, PCC trams, horse-drawn carriages or steam trams: historic tram carriages crossed the city center of Ghent to mark 150 years of trams.

The Battle of the Polygoon Forest took place in Zonnebeke from September 26 to 27, 1917. Australian and New Zealand soldiers eliminated the German bunkers and fortifications one by one.

To defend the nation against foreign attacks, a series of forts were built around Antwerp, Liège and Namur from the end of the nineteenth century. For example, the Defense Line of Antwerp consisted of sixteen larger strongholds in a wide circle around the city, including Fort Breendonk.

In early May 1915, Canadian doctor and poet John McCrae wrote the world-famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' from a medical aid station a stone's throw from Ypres.

For army leaders wanting to survey the front line from Messines across Wytschaete to Ypres, the Kemmelberg was the place to be during the First World War. From 1914 to 1917, the British army controlled the strategic hilltop.