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Royal Galleries of Ostend

1906 establishments in BelgiumBuildings and structures completed in 1906Buildings and structures in West FlandersLeopold II of Belgium
Oostende.Thermae Palace
Oostende.Thermae Palace

The Royal Galleries of Ostend (Dutch: Koninklijke Gaanderijen) are a seaside neoclassical arcade on a dike on the beach of Ostend, Belgium. They extend from the royal villa in the east to the Hippodrome Wellington horse racing track in the west. The galleries are over 380 metres (1,250 ft) long, with a large pavilion at each end. The luxury Thermae Palace Hotel sits atop the central section.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Royal Galleries of Ostend (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Royal Galleries of Ostend
Koningin Astridlaan, Ostend

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.226111111111 ° E 2.9022222222222 °
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Koningin Astridlaan 7
8400 Ostend (Ostend)
West Flanders, Belgium
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Oostende.Thermae Palace
Oostende.Thermae Palace
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First Ostend Raid
First Ostend Raid

The First Ostend Raid (part of Operation ZO) was the first of two attacks by the Royal Navy on the German-held port of Ostend during the late spring of 1918 during the First World War. Ostend was attacked in conjunction with the neighbouring harbour of Zeebrugge on 23 April in order to block the vital strategic port of Bruges, situated 6 mi (5.2 nmi; 9.7 km) inland and ideally sited to conduct raiding operations on the British coastline and shipping lanes. Bruges and its satellite ports were a vital part of the German plans in their war on Allied commerce (Handelskrieg) because Bruges was close to the troopship lanes across the English Channel and allowed much quicker access to the Western Approaches for the U-boat fleet than their bases in Germany. The plan of attack was for the British raiding force to sink two obsolete cruisers in the canal mouth at Ostend and three at Zeebrugge, thus preventing raiding ships leaving Bruges. The Ostend canal was the smaller and narrower of the two channels giving access to Bruges and so was considered a secondary target behind the Zeebrugge Raid. Consequently, fewer resources were provided to the force assaulting Ostend. While the attack at Zeebrugge garnered some limited success, the assault on Ostend was a complete failure. The German marines who defended the port had taken careful preparations and drove the British assault ships astray, forcing the abortion of the operation at the final stage. Three weeks after the failure of the operation, a second attack was launched which proved more successful in sinking a blockship at the entrance to the canal but ultimately did not close off Bruges completely. Further plans to attack Ostend came to nothing during the summer of 1918, and the threat from Bruges would not be finally stopped until the last days of the war, when the town was liberated by Allied land forces.

Hippodrome Wellington
Hippodrome Wellington

The Hippodrome Wellington (also Wellingtonrenbaan) is a horse racing track in Ostend in the Flemish Region of Belgium built in 1883, renovated in 2011 and named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The facility hosts both harness and flat racing events. Starting at the end of June, there's a race day every Monday (until September). Notable among its flat races for Thoroughbred horses was the Grand Prix Prince Rose held annually in July on the Nationale feestdag. Formerly known as the Grand International d'Ostende, it was renamed to honor the great Belgian horse, Prince Rose. The venue hosted concerts by artists like Michael Jackson (1997), David Bowie (2002) and Bon Jovi (2003) and the 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships In 2004 the center of the race track was converted into a golf course named Wellington Golf Oostende.. It holds 4 golf holes of the total of 9. The golf course is closed on race days. The Royal Galleries of Ostend were built to link the track to King Leopold II of Belgium's villa, allowing the king and his guests to travel between the two without being inconvenienced by rain or wind. On September 3, 1997 American pop-star Michael Jackson gave here a concert as part of his HIStory World Tour. It was dedicated to Princess Diana, who died 4 days earlier on August 31, 1997. The racecourse and part of the nearby beach have occasionally been used for cyclo-cross races, including the 2021 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.

Siege of Ostend
Siege of Ostend

The siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. A Spanish force under Archduke Albrecht besieged the fortress being held initially by a Dutch force which was reinforced by English troops under Francis Vere, who became the town's governor. It was said "the Spanish assailed the unassailable; the Dutch defended the indefensible." The commitment of both sides in the dispute over the only Dutch-ruled area in the province of Flanders, made the campaign continue for more than any other during the war. This resulted in one of the longest and bloodiest sieges in world history: more than 100,000 people were killed, wounded, or succumbed to disease during the siege.Ostend was resupplied via the sea and as a result held out for three years. A garrison did a tour of duty before being replaced by fresh troops, normally 3,000 at a time keeping casualties and disease to a minimum. The siege consisted of a number of assaults by the Spanish, including a massive unsuccessful assault by 10,000 Spanish infantry in January 1602 when governed by Vere. After suffering heavy losses, the Spanish replaced the Archduke with Ambrosio Spinola and the siege settled down to one of attrition with the strong points gradually being taken one at a time.Ostend was eventually captured by the Spanish on 20 September 1604 but the city was completely destroyed and the overall strategy had changed since the siege had started. The loss of Ostend was a severe blow strategically for the Republic but Spanish propaganda and strategic objectives were frustrated by the Dutch and English conquest of Sluis to the northeast a few weeks before the surrender of Ostend. In addition, the economic cost of such a long campaign and the enormous number of casualties sustained turned the result into a Spanish pyrrhic victory and effectively the siege contributed largely to Spanish bankruptcy three years later which was followed by the Twelve Years' Truce.