St John's Seven Kings: Day Trip to Veurne

Veurne is 'a charming market town just 7km inland by road and rail from De Panne.' The Grote Markt is 'one of the best-preserved town squares in Belgium.' 'All of Veurne’s leading sights are on or around the Grote Markt, beginning in the northwest corner with the Stadhuis, an engaging mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles built between 1596 and 1612 and equipped with a fine blue-and-gold decorated stone loggia projecting from the original brick facade ... The Stadhuis connects with the more austere classicism of the Gerechtshof (Law Courts), whose symmetrical pillars and long, rectangular windows now hold the tourist office, but once sheltered the Inquisition as it set about the Flemish peasantry with gusto. The attached tiered and balconied Belfort (belfry; no public access) was completed in 1628, its Gothic lines culminating in a dainty Baroque tower, from where carillon concerts ring out over the town throughout the summer.

Behind the Belfort is St-Walburgakerk, a replacement for the original church that Robert II of Flanders caught sight of, but which was burnt to a cinder in 1353. The new church was begun in style with a mighty, heavily buttressed choir, but the money ran out when the builders reached the transepts and the nave – a truncated affair if ever there was one – was only finished off in 1904. The interior has three virtues: the ornately carved Flemish Renaissance choir stalls; a handsome set of stained-glass windows, some Gothic, some neo-Gothic; and the superb stonework of the tubular, composite columns at the central crossing.'

'Saint Nicholas Church is the culmination of several previous places of worship, the first of which is thought to have been built on this site in the 11th Century. This fine looking piece of religious architecture mainly dates from the 15th Century and towers above the locality, dwarfing the secular buildings that surround with majestic charm.'

Emergent is a gallery providing space for contemporary art in Veurne, which has been initiated by curator Frank Maes. The current exhibition features work by Marcel Berlanger, Emanuelle Quertain, MER Station 7 - Sebastien Capouet and Kristien Daem.

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Jon Foreman - The Cure For Pain.

Church trip to Cité Europe and Veurne

Today was the annual day trip from St John's Seven Kings to Cité Europe plus another location, which this year was the beautiful town of Veurne in Belgium.

Found at a stone’s throw from the coast and the French border, Veurne has one of the most beautiful market squares of Belgium. The Town Hall has been built in a Flemish Renaissance style and the Viscount Hall is finished with a Belfort Tower (Unesco World Heritage monument). Saint Walburga Church has a vault which is 23 metres high. The church has been richly furnished and boasts beautiful choir stalls in the Flemish Renaissance style plus interesting paintings and statues. A relic from the Holy Cross is kept in this church. Saint Nicholas Church has been built using the typical yellow brick from the region. In the 48–metre high church tower is a small carillon museum. The oldest clock of Veurne (1379), locally called "’t Bomtje", is part of the current carillon.

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Justice - Genesis.

Boulogne sur mer: contemporary and historic art

Today I've been on our annual parish day trip to France. This year, after going to Cité Europe, we visited Boulogne-sur-mer.

On the way up the hill from the port to the Old Town I saw an excellent exhibition at the Galerie Premières Toiles. Pierre LeBlanc's 'A Broken/Damaged History …' is a series made up of 38 diptychs through which he maps a society where motionless men and women seem prisoners of their own picturing. LeBlanc says he is looking to expose the shortcomings/failures of our ways of life. Monch disfigures driftwood and selfportraits to create photographs and digital art of anguish and angst. Dadave creates sculptures - towers, flags etc - from recycled electrical materials.


The Old Town nestles inside mighty ramparts built at the beginning of the 13th century by the Count of Boulogne on the foundations of the Gallo-Roman walls. A pathway round the ramparts makes a delightful walk affording lovely views over the whole town and a glimpse of the flower gardens at the foot of the walls.

The Basilica of Notre Dame was erected between 1827 and 1866 by Father Haffreingue on the ruins of the ancient cathedral which has been destroyed after the French revolution. The design of this colossal edifice with its 101 meter high dome was inspired by St Paul's cathedral, St Peter's in Rome, as well as the Pantheon and Les Invalides in Paris.

Outside the Town Hall is a sculpture garden which seems to have work from or linked to the Pompidou Centre, possibly related to the earlier visit of the Mobile Pompidou Centre and an associated Sculpture Trail.

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Madeleine Peyroux - The Things I've Seen Today.