Editing Mesen

{{For|places in Iran|Mesen, Iran (disambiguation){{!}}Mesen, Iran}}
{{Expand Dutch|topic=geo|date=April 2020}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox Belgium municipality
|name             = Mesen
|type             = city
|picture          = Mesen skyline.jpg
|picture-legend   =
|map              = Messen West-Flanders Belgium Map.svg
|map-legend       = Location of Mesen in West Flanders
|arms             = Blason ville be Mesen.svg
|flag             = Mesen vlag.svg
|region           = {{BE-REG-FLE}}
|community        = {{BE-NL}}
|province         = {{BE-PROV-WV}}
|arrondissement   = [[Arrondissement of Ypres|Ypres]]
|nis              = 33016
|pyramid-date     =
|0-19=
|20-64=
|65=
|foreigners       =
|foreigners-date  =
|mayor            = Sandy Evrard (MLM)
|majority         = Mesense Liberalen/Libéraux Messinois (MLM)
|postal-codes     = 8957
|telephone-area   = 057
|web              = [http://www.mesen.be/ www.mesen.be]
|coordinates      = {{coord|50|46|N|02|54|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Mesen''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈmeːsə(n)|lang|Nl-Mesen.ogg}}; {{langx|fr|Messines}} {{IPA|fr|mɛsin|}}, historically used in English) is a [[Municipalities of Belgium|municipality]] and [[City status in Belgium|city]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wet tot toekenning van de titel van stad aan de gemeenten Beringen, Bilzen, Blankenberge, Borgloon, Ciney, Couvin, Damme, Geel, Genepiën, Gistel, Halen, Hamont-Achel, Hannuit, Harelbeke, Herk-de-Stad, Lo-Reninge, Mesen, Oudenburg, Peer, Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Vilvoorde en Walcourt |url=https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/wet/1985/07/19/1985001298/staatsblad |date=19 July 1985 |lang=nl |website=www.ejustice.just.fgov.be |publisher=[[Belgian Official Gazette]] |access-date=22 April 2025}}</ref> located in the Belgian province of [[West Flanders]]. On 1 January 2006, Mesen had a total population of 988. The total area is 3.58&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> which gives a population density of 276 inhabitants per km<sup>2</sup>.

The municipality comprises only one main settlement, the town of Mesen proper. An [[enclave and exclave|exclave]] to the west of the main territory is surrounded by the municipalities of [[Heuvelland]] and [[Comines-Warneton]].

[[File:MapMesen.svg|thumb|300px|none|The territory of Mesen (marked 'I') and its immediate neighbours. Built-up areas are shown in yellow.]]

Villages neighbouring the municipality:
* a. [[Wijtschate]] (in the municipality of [[Heuvelland]])
* b. [[Warneton, Belgium|Warneton]] (in the municipality of [[Comines-Warneton]])
* c. [[Ploegsteert]] (in the municipality of [[Comines-Warneton]])

Mesen is the smallest city in Belgium. It is a [[municipality with language facilities]].

Mesen is twinned with [[Featherston, New Zealand|Featherston]] in New Zealand in part due to the location of the [[Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial|New Zealand World War I Memorial]], which has annual [[Anzac Day]] commemorations on 25 April.

== History ==
In 1062, Adela, wife of [[Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders|Baldwin the Pius]], count of [[Flanders]], translated the bones of [[Saint Sidronius]] from Rome to Messines.<ref>{{citation |url=https://archive.org/details/TheLivesOfTheSaintsV07/page/n307/mode/2up |accessdate=2021-08-04 |page=277
 |last=Baring-Gould |first=Sabine  |title=The Lives of the Saints |volume=7, July Pt. 1 |year=1897 |location=London |publisher=J. C. Nimmo}}</ref>

Three battles were fought over the town during [[World War I]] (1914–1918):
*[[Battle of Messines (1914)]]
*[[Battle of Messines (1917)]] and [[Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)|Mines in the Battle of Messines]]
*[[Battle of the Lys (1918)]]

<gallery>
Image:Kerktoren Mesen.JPG|Church tower from Mesen
Image:Sint-Niklaaskerk.JPG|Sint-Niklaaskerk
Image:MESSINES RIDGE BRITISH CEMETERY.JPG|[[Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial|Messines Ridge British Cemetery]]
Image:Tower, Irish Peace Park, Mesen, Belgium.jpg|Tower, [[Irish Peace Park]] in Mesen
Image:IR Lübeck 029 – Meesen-Befehl.jpg|German Order for Mesen 7 April 1918
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.mesen.be/ Official website] – in {{in lang|en|fr|nl}}

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Mesen
|N = [[Heuvelland]]
|E = [[Comines-Warneton]] ([[Hainaut (province)|WHT]])
|S = [[Comines-Warneton]] ([[Hainaut (province)|WHT]])
|W = [[Comines-Warneton]] ([[Hainaut (province)|WHT]])
}}
{{Municipalities in West Flanders}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Municipalities of West Flanders]]