Les vieilles villes des Flandres: Belgique et Flandre française

The book opens a panoramic tour of the ancient cities that line the historic Flanders region, tracing the tightly clustered towns from the French border to the heart of Belgium. It paints each place as a living tapestry of medieval guilds, towering belfries and bustling market squares that once pulsed with the trade of the Hanseatic League. Readers are invited to picture spires jutting from a low‑lying sky, canals crowded with foreign vessels, and the resilient citizens who rebuilt their homes after every disaster.

Interwoven with the prose are the author’s own drawings and a striking etching that bring the stone facades, red‑tiled roofs and mist‑clad streets into vivid focus. The narrative celebrates both the grand civic palaces and the humble brick houses, highlighting how art flourished under a damp, cloud‑filled horizon. Even today, the described towns retain their unique charm, offering a glimpse of a landscape that inspired the great Flemish painters.