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Vlaanderen behoort met bijna zeven en een half miljoen inwoners op 13.682 km² tot de meest verstedelijkte gebieden in de wereld. Vlaanderen telt vijf grote steden met meer dan 100.000 inwoners: Brussel, Antwerpen, Gent, Brugge en Leuven.
België, officieel het Koninkrijk België, is een West-Europees land dat aan de Noordzee ligt en aan Nederland, Duitsland, Luxemburg en Frankrijk grenst. Het land is 30.689 km² groot en heeft een bevolking van meer dan 11,6 miljoen inwoners (ruim 6,7 miljoen in het Vlaams Gewest, 3,7 miljoen in het Waals Gewest en 1,2 miljoen in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest).
Rijks-Vlaanderen lag ten oosten van deze grens. Rijks-Vlaanderen is de benaming voor het gedeelte van het graafschap Vlaanderen dat zich binnen de grenzen van het Heilige Roomse Rijk bevond en in leen werd gehouden van de Duitse keizer. Het was het gebied ten oosten van de Schelde, met bijkomend de Vier Ambachten / het land van Hulst en Walacra ...
Vlaanderen is de noordelijke deelstaat van België, waar Nederlands de officiële taal is. De deelstaat werkt volledig autonoom op haar eigen bevoegdheden via het Vlaams Parlement en de Vlaamse Regering. Vlaanderen behoort tot de federale staat België.
- History
- Geography
- Main Sights
- Transport
- Economy
- Education
- European Cooperation
- Culture
- Leisure
- Sports
Name
The Latin name Cortoriacum means the settlement near the curb in the river.[citation needed]There is also mention of 'Cortoracum' in some literature. Its name later evolved to 'Cortrycke', 'Cortryck' and 'Kortrijk' (19th century). In French and in English, the city is called Courtrai.
Origins Roman times
Findings from an archeological dig in 1950 in which remains of three Roman funeral pyres were found suggest that the vicus was used as an encampment by the Romans during their invasion of Britain in AD 43. Cortoriacum was a larger Gallo-Roman vicus of civitas Menapiorum at an important crossroads near the Lys river of the Roman roads linking Tongeren and Cassel and Tournai and Oudenburg. It was first mentioned in a document from the 4th or 5th century called Notitia Dignitatum where the corto...
Battle of the Golden Spurs
In 1302, the population of Bruges started a successful uprising against the French, who had annexed Flanders a couple of years earlier. On 18 May the French population in that city was massacred, an event that could not go unpunished. The famous ensuing Battle of Courtrai in 1302, also known as the Battle of the Golden Spurs (Dutch: Guldensporenslag), between the Flemish people, mostly commoners and farmers, and Philip the Fair's knights took place near Courtrai on 11 July, resulting in a vic...
Municipality
After the 1977 fusion the city is made up of: 1. I Kortrijk 2. II Heule 3. III Bissegem 4. IV Marke 5. V Aalbeke 6. VI Rollegem 7. VII Bellegem 8. VIII Kooigem
Neighbouring municipalities
The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, also consists of Kuurne, Wevelgem, Zwevegem and Harelbeke. Although these municipalities have strong morphologic ties with Courtrai, they aren't officially part of the city.
Architecture
Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved and restored. The city centre is one of the largest car-free areas in Belgium. The béguinage, as well as the belfry, have each been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.Interesting highlights are:
Museums
Museums in Courtrai include: 1. Kortrijk 1302: seven centuries in one day, a historic museum about the famous Battle of the Golden Spurs, which gave Flanders its official holiday (11 July) 2. Broelmuseum (Museum of Fine Arts and archaeological museum), with paintings by Roelant Savery and international Ceramic. 3. National Flax Museumin honour of the plant that once was the main driver of Kortrijk’s economy. This museum will be relocated. 4. Groeninge Abbeywith the Groeningemuseum. This museu...
Road
Courtrai lies at the intersection of three highways: 1. The E17: connects Courtrai with Ghent, Sint-Niklaas and Antwerp to the northeast, and with Lille and Paristo the south-west. 2. The E403: connects Courtrai with Bruges and Ostend to the north, and with Tournai, Mons and Charleroito the south-east. 3. The Belgian highway A19: connects Courtrai with Ypresand the Belgian coast. 4. In addition Courtrai also has two ringways: 4.1. The R8: connects the outskirts of Kortrijk with each other and...
Railway
1. The municipality of Courtrai has two railway stations: 1.1. Kortrijk main railway station: an international railway station with direct connections to Brugge Centraal (Bruges), Brussel Zuid, Antwerp, Ghent, Poperinge and Ieper (Ypres), Oudenaarde, other Belgian towns and Lille in France. The station also offers a direct connection to Brussels Airport. 1.2. Bissegem Station: a regional railway station in the village of Bissegem with connections to Ypres.
Public city transport
Kortrijk has an extensive web of public transport lines, operated by De Lijn, providing access to the city centre and the suburbs (city lines, Dutch: stadslijnen) and to many towns and villages in the region around the city (regional lines, Dutch: streeklijnen). 1. City buses: 1.1. Line 1: Station – Kortrijk Xpo – Kinepolis– Leiedal 1.2. Line 2: Station – Lange Munte 1.3. Line 4: Station – Bissegem Station – Heule Kransvijver 1.4. Line 50: Station – Kuurne Seizoenswijk 1.5. Line 51: Station –...
The city is historically connected with the flax and the textile industry, and still today the textile industry remains important in the region.Major companies which have headquarters in Courtrai include Cisco and Barco.
Courtrai serves as an educational centre in south West Flanders, attracting students from the entire region. There are 55 schools in Courtrai, on 72 different locations throughout the city, with an estimated 21,000 students. The city also provides higher education. The KULAK, a campus of the Catholic University of Leuven, is located in on the south...
Even though Courtrai is a Dutch-speaking town, it borders Wallonia, and is only 9 km (5.6 mi) away from the border with France. This has created an urban area that extends across linguistic and national borders. The mayors of Lille, Courtrai and Tournai met in Courtrai on 28 January 2008 to sign a document creating the first European Grouping of Te...
Newspaper
1. Courtrai used to have its own newspaper in times of war, called het Kortrijks Oorlogsblad.
Music
1. Courtrai has widely recognised local artists, such as: 1.1. Fapy Lafertin, foremost exponent of the Belgian-Dutch style of gypsy jazz. 1.2. Goose, electronic rockband with international projection. 1.3. Amenra, extreme metalband prominent in the European metal scene. 1.4. Marcel Ponseele, baroque oboist known for his Bach performances and recordings. 1.5. Balthazar, indie rockband popular in both Belgium and the Netherlands. 1.6. Michaela Karadjian, soprano Operasinger.
Theatres and concert venues
1. Courtrai has several cultural centres, each comprising different locations: 1.1. Cultural Centre Kortrijk 1.2. City Theatre (De Schouwburg, see picture), a neo-Renaissance architecture theatre known for its glass ceiling, an artwork of the French-Algerian artist Alberola 1.3. Arenatheatre 1.4. Antigone Theatre 1.5. Buda Kunstencentrum (Buda Arts Centre), comprising the cinema Budascoop, the artist residence Tacktower and the artist creation space Budafactory 1.6. The Concertstudio 1.7. Mus...
Shopping
1. Kortrijk was the first town in Belgium to have a fully traffic-free shopping street, the Korte Steenstraat (1962). Later, a lot of neighbouring streets were also made traffic-free. As a result, Courtrai nowadays has one of the biggest traffic-free areas in Belgium (comprising Lange Steenstraat, Steenpoort, Sint-Jansttraat, Wijngaardstraat and several squares). 2. Courtrai has several indoor shopping malls including the Ring Shopping Kortrijk Noord, Bouwcentrum Pottelberg and K in Kortrijk...
Parks
1. Beguinagepark 2. Groeningepark, on the site of the Groeningekouter where the Battle of Courtrai or the Battle of the Golden Spurs took place. In contains the Groeningegate and the Groeninge Monument 3. King Albertpark, with the Leiemonument which commemorates the Battle of the Lys 4. Gebroeders van Raemdonckpark 5. Queen Astridparkin the Overleie district 6. 't Plein, a nineteenth-century park, laid out on a former military site 7. Park de Blauwe Poort 8. Magdalenapark 9. Rozentuin, the In...
Football
Kortrijk has three official footballclubs. 1. K.V. Kortrijk plays in the Belgian First Division A after winning the championship in the former Belgian Second Divisionduring the 2007–2008 season. 2. SV Kortrijk plays in the fourth provincial division. 3. Wikings Kortrijk is for youth teams.
Basketball
1. Kortrijk Sport CB 2. Basketbalteam Kortrijk 3. House of Talent Spurs
Cycling
1. In Flanders generally, professional cycling is very popular. Many cycling races start, finish or pass through the Kortrijk area. Amongst them are the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, Gent–Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders and Dwars door Vlaanderen. Kortrijk also hosts an after-tour criterium at the start of August called Kortrijk Koerse. Many of the riders who participated in the Tour de France usually appear at the start. In cyclo-cross, the centre of Kortrijk hosts th...
De Vlaamse provincies zijn de vijf provincies van het Belgische landsdeel Vlaanderen (de Vlaamse Gemeenschap ). Samen vormen zij het Vlaams Gewest. Vlaanderen bestaat hiernaast uit een 'extraprovinciaal' of 'provincieloos' gebied, het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest dat de Vlamingen delen met de Franstaligen (de Franse Gemeenschap ).
Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen) is the Dutch-speaking, northern part of Belgium wedged between the North Sea and the Netherlands in the north and Wallonia and France in the south. This region has an immense historical and cultural wealth made visible through its buildings, works of art and festivals.
