Editing Eeklo

{{Infobox Belgium municipality
|name             = Eeklo
|picture          = Sint-Vincentiuskerk (Eeklo) - Gezien vanop de Markt.JPG
|picture-legend   = Eeklo city hall, church, and market square
|map              = Eeklo East-Flanders Belgium Map.svg
|map-legend       = Location of Eeklo in [[East Flanders]]
|arms             = Blason ville be Eeklo.svg
|flag             = Eekloo vlag.svg
|region           = {{BE-REG-FLE}}
|community        = {{BE-NL}}
|province         = {{BE-PROV-OV}}
|arrondissement   = [[Arrondissement of Eeklo|Eeklo]]
|nis              = 43005
|pyramid-date     = 01/01/2006
|0-19=20.44
|20-64=59.61
|65=19.96
|foreigners       = 2.01
|foreigners-date  = 01/07/2005
|mayor            = Luc Vandevelde (SMS Eeklo)
|majority         = SMS EEklo, [[Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats|Open VLD]], [[Groen (political party)|Groen]]
|postal-codes     = 9900
|telephone-area   = 09
|web              = [http://www.eeklo.be/ www.eeklo.be]
|coordinates      = {{coord|51|11|N|03|33|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Eeklo''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈeːkloː|-|Nl-Eeklo.ogg}}) is a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[Municipalities in Belgium|municipality]] in the [[Flemish Region|Flemish]] [[Provinces of Belgium|province]] of [[East Flanders]]. The municipality comprises only the city of Eeklo proper. The name ''Eeklo'' comes from the contraction of ''eke'' and ''lo'', two [[Old High German|Old German]] words meaning 'oak' and 'sparse woods' (compare English ''[[wikt:Oakley|Oakley]]'').

==History==

===Origins and Middle Ages===
There are not many traces of early habitation in the Eeklo area. It is presumed that some oaks would have attracted the attention of travellers on the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] road that ran along the local sandbar among the marshes. By 1240, a town had grown here and had already become important enough to warrant a civic [[charter]] by [[Jeanne, Countess of Flanders|Jeanne of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders]]. Over the years, the marshes were drained to give place to fortified farms, some remnants of which can still be seen today (''Groot Goed''). Like most other cities in the [[County of Flanders]], Eeklo's economy was based on the cloth industry, and commercial relations were established with the more powerful neighbouring cities, [[Ghent]] and [[Bruges]].

===16th century - present===
[[File:Eeklo, Belgium ; Ferraris Map.jpg|thumb|left|Eeklo on the [[Ferraris map]] (around 1775)]]
During the second half of the 16th century, Eeklo was in the unfortunate position of being on the border between the [[Catholic]] south and the [[Protestant]] north, which resulted in so much destruction that the town was nearly abandoned by its inhabitants. At around that time the legend of "recooking" appeared, actually a rejuvenation recipe that involved drinking a youth elixir, cutting one's head off and baking it again. While the head was in the oven, a green cabbage took its place on the body, symbol of the empty head.

The 18th and 19th century were more favourable and the [[textile]] industry took off again. Most of the town's schools and [[neo-Gothic]] buildings date from that period. Today, Eeklo is changing its vocation from an industrial town to one of services to the neighbouring communities.

==Main sights==
*The [[Belfries of Belgium and France|town hall and belfry]] have been designated by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1999.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |url = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943 |title= Belfries of Belgium and France  |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date = 5 November 2021}}</ref>
*Eeklo has a few notable churches and chapels, such as the St Vincent Church (''Sint-Vincentiuskerk'') and the chapel of the clinic of the Holy Heart (''Heilig Hartkliniek'').
*A nearby provincial park, “Het Leen”, includes an arboretum and museum.
*A local park, the ''Heldenpark'', offers concerts in summer, and houses a playground for children, bowling areas for seniors, and a soccer and baseball field.

==Famous inhabitants==
*[[Leon L. Van Autreve]], fourth [[United States]] [[Sergeant Major of the Army]] (1920–2002)
*[[Edouard Heene]], (born 1872 in Eeklo), master builder
*[[Erik De Vlaeminck]], cyclist, 7 times world champion [[cyclo-cross]] (born 1945)
*[[Roger De Vlaeminck]], cyclist, world champion [[cyclo-cross]] in 1975, winner of 11 "Monument" [[classic cycle races]] (born 1947)
*[[Paul Van Hyfte]] (born 1972 in Eeklo), cyclist
*[[Rudy Matthijs]] (born 1959 in Eeklo), cyclist
*[[Frederik Willems]] (born 1979 in Eeklo), cyclist
*[[Dirk Braeckman]], artist and photographer (b. 1958)
*[[Olivier De Cock]] (born 1975 in Eeklo), soccer player
*[[Maarten Martens]] (born 1984 in Eeklo), soccer player 
*[[Tonny Mols]] (born 1969 in Eeklo), soccer player
*[[Guido van Heulendonk]] ([[pseudonym]] of Guido Beelaert) (born in Eeklo), writer
*[[Karel Lodewijk Ledeganck]] (born 1805 in Eeklo), writer
*[[Peter Van de Veire]] (born 1971 in Eeklo), radio personality
*[[Tom Dice]] (born 1989 in Eeklo), singer and songwriter, represented [[Belgium]] in [[Eurovision Song Contest 2010]]

==Twin cities==
*{{flagicon|ENG}} [[Newbury, Berkshire|Newbury]], England
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Braunfels]], Germany
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Bagnols-sur-Cèze]], France
*{{Flagicon|SPA}} [[Carcaixent]], Spain
*{{Flagicon|ITA}} [[Feltre]], Italy

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.eeklo.be Official website ] - Information available in [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and limited information available in [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]].

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Eeklo
|N  = [[Sint-Laureins]]
|E  = [[Kaprijke]]
|SE = [[Waarschoot]]
|S  = [[Zomergem]]
|W  = [[Maldegem]]
}}
{{Municipalities in East Flanders}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eeklo| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of East Flanders]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Belgium]]