The Oldest City Plan

Oldest city plan

During the week of 21 March 2022, archaeologists uncovered a quay and crane at the Lakenhallen. This unique find is marked with extreme precision on the historical wall map by Thevelin-Destreez from 1564. The wall map is on permanent display at the Ypres Museum.

Unique historical find

The excavated crane and quay are beautiful testimonies to the lively trade in medieval Ypres. Loading and unloading ships and a continuous stream of (international) traders, craftsmen and workers must have made it a hive of activity. Archaeologists discovered the wooden platform on which the crane stood and the base of the central pole around which the crane rotated to load and unload goods. In the 15th century, the Ieperlee was several metres wide at this point. Boats needed this space to turn. Around 1650, the Ieperlee was narrowed here, a large part was filled in and covered. At that time, the Neerstand and the quay in the north of Ypres were constructed and the mooring place in the centre lost its usefulness.

Oldest city plan

The city plan by Thévelin-Destrée accurately shows this medieval situation. It is the oldest known city plan of Ypres and dates from 1564, just before the Iconoclastic Fury (1566) that changed the streetscape of Ypres. Here we see the city in all its glory, as one of the most important cities in the Low Countries.

Thanks to the bird's-eye view, everything is easily recognisable. If you look closely, you will discover a lot of greenery in the city, streets and alleys, squares and fortifications, meadows, orchards, fields... In the centre, you can see the Vandenpeereboomplein with the largely navigable Ieperlee, the mooring quay and the wooden crane, exactly in the same place where the remains were found today.

Model

Painter Jan Thévelin designed this city plan. Printers Jacob and Mailjaer Destreé made the woodcut and the twelve woodblocks that form a whole and took care of the printing. The original blocks were destroyed in the first year of the war, 1914. We know about this exceptional map thanks to two rare reprints from 1815, by the Ypres printer Annoy-Vandevyver. A paper version of this reprint, consisting of twelve sheets, hangs in the museum. The giant model in the centre of the museum hall is based on this plan and uses all kinds of details and videos to tell the story of urban planning and organisation during this period. Read more about the medieval city of Ypres.