The seventeenth century Vauban ramparts

Tour of the Ramparts including the Menin Gate, Ieper, Belgium

This tour starts on the southern edge of the 17th Century Vauban Ramparts in Ieper, Belgium, moving slowly around the city to the east and up to the Menin Gate.

Personally, a tour of the ramparts should be on any visitor to Iepers itineray. The weather wasn't brilliant during my visit but the views are amazing and the scale sometimes breath taking.

And then you have the Menin Gate. I have visited the Menin Gate several times, and had the privilege to see the Last Post ceremony 4 times (another must do experience). But when you visit, make a point of climbing the stairs (or go up the ramp on the western side) and take in the whole memorial. It is worth it.

Belgium: Ypres - Ieper

Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
Te town had long been fortified to keep out invaders. Parts of the early ramparts, dating from 1385, still survive near the Rijselpoort (Lille Gate). Over time, the earthworks were replaced by sturdier masonry and earth structures and a partial moat. Ypres was further fortified in the 17th and 18th centuries while under the occupation of the Habsburgs and the French. Major works were completed at the end of the 17th century by the French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. During the war, because it was hard to pronounce in English, British troops nicknamed the city Wipers.
Ypres occupied a strategic position during World War I because it stood in the path of Germany's planned sweep across the rest of Belgium and into France from the north (the Schlieffen Plan). The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by Britain; Germany's invasion of Belgium brought the British Empire into the war.
After the war the town was rebuilt using money paid by Germany in reparations, with the main square, including the Cloth Hall and town hall, being rebuilt as close to the original designs as possible. The Cloth Hall today is home to In Flanders Fields Museum, dedicated to Ypres's role in the First World War.The whole complex was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999.
The Gothic-style Saint Martin's Cathedral, originally built in 1221, was also completely reconstructed after the war, but now with a higher spire.
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres commemorates those soldiers of the British Commonwealth -- with the exception of Newfoundland -- who fell in the Ypres Salient during the First World War before 16 August 1917, who have no known grave. The memorial now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men.
Every evening since 1928 (except for a period during the Second World War when Ypres was occupied by Germany), at precisely eight o'clock, traffic around the imposing arches of the Menin Gate Memorial has been stopped while the Last Post is sounded beneath the Gate by the local fire brigade. This tribute is given in honour of the memory of British Empire soldiers who fought and died there.
Source: Wikipedia

Ypres

Ypres (/ˈiːprɛs/ or /ˈiːpreɪ/; French pronunciation: ​[ipʁ]; Dutch: Ieper, pronounced [ˈipər]) is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. Though Ieper is the Dutch and only official name, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I when only French was in official use in Belgian documents, including on maps. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to some 34,900 inhabitants.
During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. During the war, because the British troops had trouble pronouncing its name, they nicknamed the city Wipers.


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