Flax fields in Kortrijk countryside : the plant that made the city's growth

Typical landscape of South West Flanders in june : the pale blue notes of flax flowering fields

Browse the collection : Kortrijk cityscape time lapse and video stock footage

The area around Kortrijk always has been very industrious. In the 19th century it was the main area where agriculture produced industrial crops as flax, oilseeds, tobacco, chicory, etc… while the rich clay layers of the Leie valley were at the origins of important tile factories. Since the Middle Ages Kortrijk was a centre of linen trade and industry, and from the end of the 19th century until after the Second War the main flax fibre production area in Europe.

(Industrial Heritage)

It soon becomes clear that Kortrijk owes its wealth to flax. This exceptional crop flourishes in the damp, mild climate along the River Lys, flowering just one day a year. Cultivated since the Middle Ages, it provides the raw material for linen fabric, as well as ropes, tents, mailbags and construction material. And the linseed oil from flax was used by Van Eyck to develop oil painting, the museum explains.

(Brussels Times)

The flax growers were originally local farmers who cultivated the crop in their fields. They became fabulously rich from this commodity, known as Courtrai flax, which produced the finest quality linen. The river Lys eventually became known as “the Golden River”.

(The Low Countries)