Steenvoorde
Steenvoorde STEENVOORDE West Flemish, is a commune with 4071 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Nord, in the Nord -Pas -de -Calais. It belongs to Arrondissement Dunkerque, is the capital of the canton Steenvoorde and seat of the municipality Association Pays des Géants. In Steenvoorde West Flemish is spoken.
- 4.1 Established businesses
- 4.2 traffic
Geography
The small town Steenvoorde is in French Flanders in the far north of France, about 30 kilometers southeast of Dunkerque and 35 kilometers north- west of Lille. In the northeast, the municipality borders on Belgium (municipality Poperinge ). The mostly flat area of the municipality is crossed by several streams that drain through the Ey Becque north to the Yser.
In addition to the closed settlement pattern of the village core are in the municipality of Steenvoorde the districts Le Riveld and Saint-Laurent and numerous scattered individual farms.
Neighboring communities of Steenvoorde are Winnezeele in the north, Poperinge in the northeast, Godewaersvelde in the east, Eecke in the south, Saint- Sylvestre- Cappel in the southwest, Terdeghem and Cassel in the west and Oudezeele in the northwest.
Demographics
Culture and sights
Structures
- St. Peter's Church from the 17th century
- Former rectory from 1664, registered as a monument historique
- Moulin du nord / north Meulen, one dating from the 16th century Dutch windmill, registered as a monument historique
- Moulin du sud / Drievenmeulen, one dating back to the 18th century Dutch windmill, registered as a monument historique
Former rectory
Folklore and Carnival
In Steenvoorde there is the tradition of the giant procession ( Géants ) as in other cities of northern France and Belgium. The Giants can be seen during Carnival, on the last weekend in April and in many other regional festivals. 2006, the European Festival of the giants took place in Steenvoorde. Since 2005, the performances by UNESCO under the title processions of giants and dragons from Belgium and France are listed as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Economy and infrastructure
Established businesses
Some of the largest companies in Steenvoorde
- Blédina, a manufacturer of baby food in the Group Danone
- The refrigerator and cooling systems manufacturer Conhexa
- Textile spinning the Dunes
- Printing Nord'Imprim
Traffic
Through the municipal area of Steenvoorde the Autoroute A25 from Dunkerque to Lille leads ( with a connection to the east of the town center ). Crossed it is from the remote street of Saint -Omer on Steenvoorde to Ypres in Belgium.
Personalities
- Michel Spanneut ( born November 6, 1919 in Steenvoorde ), French Altkirchenhistoriker