Ypres Cloth Hall
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The Cloth Hall is a large cloth hall, a medieval commercial building, in Ypres, Belgium. The original structure was erected mainly between 1200 and 1304, in the Gothic style. It was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry. At 125 metres (410 ft) in breadth, with a 70 metres (230 ft)-high belfry tower, it recalls the importance and wealth of the medieval trade city.
Ypres Cloth Hall seen from the Grote Markt
The Cloth Hall c. 1860, showing the original medieval building before World War I
Aerial view during the war. The destruction is not over at this point.
The ruined city centre with the hall and the cathedral at the end of the war
Ypres
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Ypres is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to about 34,900 inhabitants.
Cloth Hall in the Grand Place
Excerpt from the chronicle of Ypres, with numerous legends and anecdotes. Written in the 18th century
Siege of Ypres in 1794 by General Pichegru, (Musée de la Révolution française)
Ypres's shell-blasted Cloth Hall burns