Beschermd erfgoed is the official term to describe Flemish National Heritage Sites listed by law [1] to protect and spread awareness of Belgian cultural heritage, specifically in Flanders. The term is also used nationwide to refer to national heritage sites. Because Belgium is officially a tri-lingual country, the other nationwide terms used in the rest of the country are the French term Bien classé and the German term Kulturdenkmal.
Various websites with public information are maintained, and various initiatives are undertaken to assist protected property owners and to increase public awareness, most notably the European Heritage Days, which are called Open Monumentendagen in Dutch, Journées du patrimoine in French, and Tag des offenen Denkmals in German, depending on the language of the locale.
In Flanders, the government agencies "Ruimte en Erfgoed" and "Vlaams Instituut voor het Onroerend Erfgoed (VIOE)" joined together in 2011 to form Flemish organization for Immovable Heritage. [2] They work as agencies of the Flemish Ministry of Spatial Planning, Housing Policy and Heritage sites (Dutch: Ministerie van Ruimtelijke Ordening, Woonbeleid en Onroerend Erfgoed (RWO)) from four locations in Antwerp, Leuven, Hasselt and Ghent. They maintain the administration of the Royal Commission for Monuments and Sites (Dutch: Koninklijke Commissie voor Monumenten en Landschappen (KCML)).
Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed often abbreviated as Cultureel Erfgoed, is a Dutch heritage organisation working for the protection and conservation of National Heritage Sites. It is located in Amersfoort, province of Utrecht.
Melsele is a town in the Belgian province of East Flanders, between the city of Beveren and the nearby town of Zwijndrecht. Tram route 3 which starts just outside the town connects it to Zwijndrecht and Antwerp. The town's road links include the E17 and the E34.
Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in the City of Mechelen.
Heritage registers in Belgium include immovable heritage such as World Heritage Sites, and National heritage sites, but also intangible cultural heritage. The agency responsible for keeping and updating inventories of immovable heritage is dependent on the region, as is the name for the object, which is called Beschermd erfgoed, Biens classés or Kulturdenkmal depending on the language of the municipality of the location.
The Institut du Patrimoine wallon (IPW) was the official public Wallonian institute created by law to protect and spread awareness of Belgian cultural heritage, specifically in Wallonia.
Fort Napoleon in Ostend is a polygonal fort built in the Napoleonic era. It has recently been restored and is open to the public.
The Flanders Heritage Agency is a cultural heritage agency sponsored by the Flemish Government. The organisation is split into four subdivisions; the former VIOE, which inventories Beschermd erfgoed in the Flemish Region; the agency "Ruimte en Erfgoed" which executes policy on heritage management and protection; the Ministry department of Town and County Planning, Housing Policy and Immovable Heritage, or Ruimtelijke Ordening, Woonbeleid en Onroerend Erfgoed (RWO), which supports the Minister of Culture on policy decisions; and Inspectie RWO, which is the inspection arm of the RWO.
The Beringen coal preparation plant is a part of the former Beringen coal mine, which is located in Beringen in the Belgian province of Limburg. Since 1994, the building has been selected and protected as mining heritage by the Flemish government, and is planned to be reused as part of the Flemish Mining Museum. The mining site of Beringen was one of the Belgian anchor points of the ERIH. A coal preparation plant separates the usable coal from the waste rock. This coal preparation plant is one of the biggest and last vast examples of the Belgian coal industry.
The church of Our Lady, Melsele is a Roman Catholic parish church in Melsele, in the commune of Beveren, in East Flanders, Belgium. It is a registered heritage site.
Prinsenkasteel was a castle located in Grimbergen, Belgium. It was the residence of the lords of Grimbergen from the 14th Century onwards. The castle ruins are located in Prinsenbos Park.
Wortegem is a village and seat of the municipality of Wortegem-Petegem in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It is located about 17 kilometres (11 mi) east of Kortrijk.