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14 Route 2. OSTEND, Digue.
cluding passing travellers) from all parts of Europe, though pre-
dominantly French in tone. It is frequented to some extent also
in winter.
The main street of the old town is the Rue de la Chapelle
(P1. E, 3, 4), leading from the station to the market-place (Place
@’ Armes), where it changes its name to Rue de Flandre or Vlaan-
deren-Straat (Pl. E, 2). Finally, beyond the theatre (p. 13) and
the Boul. Van Iseghem, it ascends to the Digue. — In the Place
d’Armes is the large Hotel de Ville (Pl. E, 3), built in 1741, with a
corner-tower completed in 1895 and containing a set of chimes.
Besides the Société Littéraire (p. 11) and the ball-room of the
Casino (p. 13), the Hotel de Ville contains a small Picture Gallery.
A band plays in the Place d’ Armes every evening from 9.30 to 10.30.
A-lace-market is held here every Thurs. morning. — The most pro-
minent building in the town is the twin-towered Church of SS. Peter
and Paul (Pl. E, 4), built in 1907 in the Gothic style by De la
Censerie, on the site of an older church, burned down in 1896 with
the exception of one tower. Adjoining the new choir on the W. is
the tomb-chapel, by Fraikin, of Queen Louise, who died at Ostend
in 1850. — The Church of St. Catharine (Pl. D, 3), in the Rue
Christine, built in 1883 in the style of the 13th cent., is a copy
of an old church of Ghent. —- In the Boul. (or Laan) Van Iseghem
is a small Aquarium (Pl. Aq., E, 2; adm. 20 c.).
In the modern quarter to the W. is the Parc Léopold (Pl. ©,
D, 3; frequent concerts; café), with an Artesian Well, bored in
1858-59, yielding mineral water prescribed for indigestion, gout,
etc, The pump-room (adm. 10c.; 3 fr. per month) is open in
summer 6 a.m.-12 and 4-7 p.m.; in winter 8-12 and 3-5. To the
E., at the corner of the Ay. Henri-Serruys, is the Post Office (1906).
— A little to the N.W. is the Place Léopold-Premier (PI. ©, 2),
with an Equestrian Statue of Leopold I., in bronze, by Count J. de
Lalaing, — On the S. side of the town, and connected with the
Digne by the Avenue de la Reine, is the Parc Marie-Henriette,
with a café (Laiterie Royale), large ponds (boat 4 fr. per hour),
and a small museum of antiquities (open 9-12 and 2-5, Sun. 44-1).
The chief promenade is the *Digue, or Zeedyk, a stone dyke or
embankment, 161/)-35 yds. wide and 25 ft. in height, which now
extends along the dunes on the coast as far as (3 M.) Mariakerke
(p. 16). At all hours of the day, particularly about midday and in
the evening, this promenade is thronged with fashionable loungers.
The Digue is flanked by large hotels and numerous private villas,
in the Flemish Renaissance or florid baroque style, most of them
designed by Brussels architects. At the point where the Digue
makes a bend, above the W. bathing-beach, rises the handsome
Kursaal (Pl. D, 2; p. 42), erected in 1876-78 from the designs
of Lawwereins and Naert of Brussels and several times enlarged.
The huge concert-hall, with room for 6000 people, can be entirely |
