|
||||||
 |
 |
DE HAAN | ||||
|
|
||||||
|
GENERAL De Haan (Home) Info on Belgium EXTERNAL LINKS Hotels Trains
|
 |
The reality, however, is
more prosaic. De Haan was opened for tourism on the 22nd of July 1888
when the 'Hotel du Coq' was opened. Soon afterwards the Belgian
state gave a concession of 49ha for 90 years to
The concession was sold and in 1896 a new company the 'Societè Anonyme de Coq-sur-Mer' started to construct new villas in cottage style with gardens around them. Most of these villas have been preserved and this gave De Haan its 'Belle Epoque' image, which has been preserved until today. Also, from the beginning strict rules determined the implantation of green areas, woods and shrubbery. Even today De Haan boasts a
total of 150 ha of woods. The style of the houses in De Haan is very
reminiscent of the English country style as well as of the cottage
styles of Normandy in France. Here and there influences of the Art Deco
style are visible. One of the highlights is the little tram station of the
city (featured above). |
||||
|
© All texts and pictures Copyright
Trabel.com and
Arakea.com. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
The
tourist office of De Haan is situated in the Tram Station. (All
the cities at the Belgian coast are linked with a tram line). The little
station was built in 1902 as a replacement of an older one. This
remarkable building has decorative elements in the 'Art
Nouveau'-style.
'Small
but beautiful' is a catchphrase that certainly applies to the small
beach resort of De Haan. Thanks to careful architectural planning, De
Haan does not suffer from the same 'apartment-blocks'- disease that
sometimes disfigures other Belgian coastal cities. A visit to De Haan is
like a return to the 'Belle Epoque' of the turn of the century. The
name DE HAAN means literally 'The Rooster'. According to a legend the place
got this name because a rooster rescued a group of stranded fishermen. His
crawling guided them to this safer place.
two
architects so that they could construct a new, carefully planned beach
city. 