Ypres Cloth Hall

Ypres Cloth Hall
Lakenhal or Lakenhalle
Ypres Cloth Hall seen from the Grote Markt
Location of Ypres Cloth Hall
General information
Architectural style	Gothic
Location	Ypres, West Flanders
Country	Belgium
Coordinates	50°51′04″N 2°53′09″E / 50.8512°N 2.8858°E / 50.8512; 2.8858
Construction started	13th century
Estimated completion	1304
Renovated	1933–1967
Height	70 m (230 ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Jules Coomans and P. A. Pauwels
Other information
Parking	On site
Website
trabel.com/ieper-clothhall (archived 13 May 2006)

The Cloth Hall (Dutch: Lakenhal or Lakenhalle) is a large cloth hall, a medieval commercial building, in Ypres, Belgium. The original structure was erected mainly between 1200 and 1304, in the Gothic style. It was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry. At 125 metres (410 ft) in breadth, with a 70 metres (230 ft)-high belfry tower, it recalls the importance and wealth of the medieval trade city.

The hall lay in ruins after artillery fire devastated Ypres in World War I.^[1] Between 1933 and 1967, it was meticulously reconstructed to its prewar condition, under the guidance of architects J. Coomans and P. A. Pauwels. The building now houses the In Flanders Fields Museum. In 1999, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of their unique architecture, role in the advancement of civil liberties, and their civic, not religious, influence.^[2]