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AS Route 4. NIEUPORT,
a marble font with a bronze cover of 1626, and other works of art.
Dairy-farming is practised with great success in this neighbourhood,
and a brisk trade in butter is carried on with England.
Steam-tramways run from Dixmude to Ostend (p. 10); and vid Merckem
to Ypres (p. 44) in the one direction and in the other to Poperinghe (p. 47)
vid Oostvleteren (p. 50).
The Nieuport line here diverges to the N. W. from the main line to
Dunkirk (see below). — 441/y M. Caeskerke; 48 M. Pervyse; 54 M.
Rampscap pelle.
52 M. Nieuport (20 ft.; Hét. de UEspérance, Rue Longue; Hot.
du Pélican, in the market-place, R. or D. 1t/o fr.; Hét. de Bruxelles,
at the station, all unpretending), a small and quiet place on the Yser,
with 3500 inhabitants. In the 9th cent. the castle of Santhoven was
erected by the Flemish counts for protection against the Normans.
In 1160 the people of Lombartzyde (p. 17) removed to this spot,
which then changed its name to Neoportus. Nieuport is noted for its
obstinate resistance to the French in 1489 and for the ‘Battle of the
Dunes’ in July, 1600, in which the Dutch under Maurice of Orange
defeated the Spaniards under the Archduke Albert (comp. p. 17).
The strong fortifications were razed in 4860.
Beginning at the railway-station, near the terminus of the steam-
tramway (p. 16), the Rue Longue, which contains a few quaint old
houses, intersects the entire town. About 3 min. from the station
the Rue des Recollets diverges on the right for the (4 min.) Grand’
Place. On the S. side of this square rises the dignified Cloth
Hall, a Gothic brick building of 1480, with a lately restored belfry.
A little to the W. is the Gothic Ohurch (15th cent.; restored in 1903),
with a massive baroque tower. The church has a modern timber
roof, a Gothic pulpit, Renaissance choir-stalls and rood-loft, and
a sculptured altar in the baroque style of 1630, We regain the Rue
Longue by the Rue du Marché and turn to the Tight. Facing the
Post Office (on the right) is the Hétel de Ville (on the left), which
contains a small collection of paintings. At the end of the Rue
Longue we may proceed to the right to visit the Tour des Templiers,
the only relic of the Templars’ castle destroyed by the inhabitants
of Ghent and the English in 1883; or we may turn to the left to
inspect the locks on the canals to Ostend and Furnes, which enter
the Yser here. About 3/, M. to the N. of the station, on the side
next the sea, is a Lighthouse built in 1284,
Steam-tramway to Nieuport-Bains, Ostend, and Furnes, see p. 16.
541/M. Niewport-Bains, see p- 47. Most of the hotels are within
a few hundred yards of the station.
The Rattway to Dunxrrx continues to run to the W. beyond
Dixmude. 44 M. Caeskerke (see above). 46 M. Oostkerke; 49 M.
Avecappelle. |
