Mesen
City and municipality in Flemish Community, Belgium / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mesen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmeːsə(n)] ⓘ; French: Messines, French pronunciation: [mɛsin], historically used in English) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. On January 1, 2006, Mesen had a total population of 988. The total area is 3.58 km2 which gives a population density of 276 inhabitants per km2.
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (April 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Mesen | |
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City and municipality | |
Coordinates: 50°46′N 02°54′E | |
Country | Belgium |
Community | Flemish Community |
Region | Flemish Region |
Province | West Flanders |
Arrondissement | Ypres |
Government | |
• Mayor | Sandy Evrard (MLM) |
• Governing party/ies | Mesense Liberalen/Libéraux Messinois (MLM) |
Area | |
• Total | 3.6 km2 (1.4 sq mi) |
Population (2022-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 1,062 |
• Density | 300/km2 (760/sq mi) |
Postal codes | 8957 |
NIS code | 33016 |
Area codes | 057 |
Website | www.mesen.be |
The municipality comprises only one main settlement, the town of Mesen proper. An exclave to the west of the main territory is surrounded by the municipalities of Heuvelland and Comines-Warneton.
Villages neighbouring the municipality:
- a. Wijtschate (in the municipality of Heuvelland)
- b. Warneton (in the municipality of Comines-Warneton)
- c. Ploegsteert (in the municipality of Comines-Warneton)
Mesen is the smallest city in Belgium. It is a municipality with language facilities.
Mesen is twinned with Featherston in New Zealand in part due to the location of the New Zealand World War I Memorial, which has annual Anzac Day commemorations on 25 April.
In 1062, Adela, wife of Baldwin the Pius, count of Flanders, translated the bones of Saint Sidronius from Rome to Messines.[2]
Three battles were fought over the town during World War I (1914–1918):
- Battle of Messines (1914)
- Battle of Messines (1917) and Mines in the Battle of Messines
- Battle of the Lys (1918)
- Church tower from Mesen
- Sint-Niklaaskerk
- Tower, Irish Peace Park in Mesen
- German Order for Mesen 7 April 1918
- Baring-Gould, Sabine (1897), The Lives Of The Saints, vol. 7, July Pt. 1, London: J. C. Nimmo, p. 277, retrieved 4 August 2021
- Media related to Mesen at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website - in (in English, French, and Dutch)