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FURNES (Flem. Veurne)

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 362 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FURNES (Flem. Veurne) , an old-fashioned little See also:town amid the See also:dunes near the See also:coast in See also:West See also:Flanders, See also:Belgium, about 26 m. S.W. of See also:Bruges. Pop. (1904) 6099. It is the centre of a considerable See also:area extending to the See also:French frontier, and its See also:market is an important one for the disposal of See also:corn, stock, hops and See also:dairy produce. During the See also:Norman raids Furnes was destroyed, and the See also:present town was built by See also:Baldwin See also:Bras de Fer, first See also:count of Flanders, about the See also:year 87o. At the height of the prosperity of the Flemish communes in the 14th See also:century there were dependent on the See also:barony of Furnes not fewer than fifty-two See also:rich villages, but these have all disappeared, partly no doubt as the consequence of repeated French invasions down to the end of the 18th century, but chiefly through the encroachment of the See also:sea followed by the See also:accumulation of See also:sand along the whole of this portion of the coast. Furnes contains many curious old houses and the See also:church of St Walburga, which is a See also:fine survival of the 13th century with same older portions. The old church and buildings, grouped See also:round the See also:Grand See also:Place, which is the See also:scene of the weekly market, present a See also:quaint picture which is perhaps not to be equalled in the See also:country. Near Furnes on the seashore is the fashionable bathing place called La Panne. Furnes one See also:day a year becomes a centre of attraction to all the See also:people of Flanders.

This is the last See also:

Sunday in See also:July, when the fete of See also:Calvary and the Crucifixion is celebrated. Of all popular festivities in Belgium this is the nearest approach to the old See also:Passion See also:Play. The whole See also:story of See also:Christ is told with See also:great precision by-means of succeeding See also:groups which typify the different phases of the subject. The people of Furnes pose as See also:Roman soldiers or Jewish priests, as the apostles or See also:mere spectators, while the See also:women put on See also:long See also:black veils so that they may figure in the procession as the just women.

End of Article: FURNES (Flem. Veurne)

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