A day in Ieper (Ypres)

Get prepared for the pictures - today was "be a tourist" day.

Went by bike in the morning to the battle fields out of town and in the afternoon I walked around town with my camera (which is still misbehaving unless the battery is chock a block full, that tells me there is something wrong with the battery - like it needs a new one!)

So here we go:

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery where 2000 men are buried, 1,300 of whom are unknown.

 The inscription on the stones reads: A soldier of the Great War.  Known unto God.

Hooge Crater Museum.  The British tunnelled under the German front line and laid 1700 tons of explosives and detonated them in an attempt to break up the German front line. The Germans were based in a lovely Chateau which was blown to smithereens along with the Germans, and some British soldiers who were too close the explosion.  After the war the owner of the chateau returned and built a new house (much smaller than the chateau), a school and chapel for the workers.  The house is now a museum and what is left of the crater is a very large pond in the garden.  The school became a tea room and the chapel is a very good private museum.

This is only part of the pond

Biebuyck House - Dating from 1544, the facade is one of the few pieces of architecture to survive the bombing.

The Cloth Hall and Belfry - the original building was completed in 1304 but was almost completely destroyed during the war.

The Butcher's house - the ground floor dates from 1275 and the brick floors from 1530, but I think this is a reconstruction

The Town Hall and Nieuwerck, from 1619, rebuilt after the war 

The Courthouse

The Old Seignory Building, 15th century.  Look at all those dormer windows.  The seven medallions on the facade depict the seven deadly sins. 

A plaque commemorating the Belgian resistance fighters of both wars

A statue commemorating the Nepalese soldiers who died in the war - and I've added it just because of the terrible earthquakes they have suffered recently.

A view towards St Martin's Cathedral.

And finally, the marina in Ieper.