A Day in Cassel a taste of Flanders …in France

Sean, Loic, Don, Alexis & Lauren

The French Craft Brewers alliance is engaging a rep, Alexis Maquin, to work in the Chicago Market. He’ll be arriving in June. We got together with him, Loic Falce, a key operative with FCB and the export manager at Castelain on the occasion of a visit to the Nord Pas de Calais region and most especially the Castelain Brewery, with Lauren and Sean our North East reps. We wanted to give them a sense of the profound Flemish influence in this part of France – as background to understanding and appreciating the beers. Cassel is the perfect place to prove the point. It is after all home to the one and only Museum of Flanders (in France…not Belgium!). It is also one of our favorite towns in the region from which – on a clear day you can see five countries. Loic and Alexis engineered a superb day and we had a grand time. Alexis created this handy dandy Cassel walking tour for the us. Also available as a pdf. Enjoy! Count on about 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive from Gent to Cassel and a little under 2 hours if coming from Brussels. Pair a 1/2 day excursion to Cassel with a tour and tasting of the beers at Castelain and a leisurely and filling lunch at wayside tavern in a converted farmette: La Gringette – photo below (12-14, rue de l’Epinette – 59181 Steenwerck 03-28-49-90-96.) You will find the Castelain beers on offer.

Cassel is a small town of 2, 300 inhabitants in the Nord department, situated at the top of Mont Cassel (Dutch: Kasselberg), a prominent hill located in the local Houtland region about 19 miles (30 km) from the sea. The hill rises to a height of 577 ft (176 m) above sea level. Its geological composition comprises limestone capped with a very hard ferruginous layer of rock.

A bit of history :

Cassel (Kassel in Flemish)

Built on a prominent hill overlooking French Flanders, the town has existed since Roman times. It was developed by the Romans into an important urban centre and was the focus of a network of roads, which are still in use today, that converge on the hill. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Cassel became an important fortified stronghold for the rulers of Flanders which was repeatedly fought over before finally being annexed to France in the 17th century. It was the headquarters of Marshal Ferdinand Foch during part of the First World War. In 1940, during the German invasion of France, Cassel was the scene of a fierce three-day battle between British and German forces which resulted in much of the town being destroyed.

Today the town, which was rebuilt following the war, is a popular destination for visitors to French Flanders. It is renowned for its extensive views from the summit of Mont Cassel and is the location of the Nord department’s principal museum of local art, history and folklore. It is also the home of the legendary giants Reuze-Papa and Reuze-Maman, which are paraded in effigy each Easter during the town’s annual carnival.

To get to know the city, what is better than a walking tour ?

Walking tour of Cassel

Length : 1.86 miles / 3 kilometers

Time : 1 hour

Starting point : Cassel Grand-Place

Point 1

In front of the Hôtel de la Noble Cour (1), take right and then, turn the first right.

Point 2 A bit further on Castle Street, pass the Castle gates (1621). To the left, the Flemish garden; To the right, the Monument des Trois Batailles (2). In front of the Castle Windmill (3), take left and look at the view from the south orientation table. Go down on the little path to the left of the Roman wall. You are at the north orientation table (176 m / 192 yards). It used to be said that from Cassel one could see five kingdoms: France, Belgium, Holland, England and Heaven.

Pass by the equestrian statue of Marshal Foch (4) and follow the public garden path.

Point 3

Turn left and join the Vandamme Square (General from Cassel in 1770-1830). Turn right at Bergues Street. At number 35, you will find former Saint Sebastien Inn, headquarters of Archers guild, founded in 1445.

Point 4

At the Horne Chapel (1732), take left. Then, take right at Dunkerque Street. You can see a horse trough. Walk by Dunkerque gates and once at the square, go left ahead of the church The Collégiale Notre-Dame de la Crypte (5) passing by a monument commemorating fallen WWI soldiers.

In front of Jesuit’s College Chapel (1687), take left to the Chapitre path, built in sandstone.

Point 5

To the left, take Marechal Foch Street. After passing Ypres Gates, turn right to Remparts Street. At the end of this street, it will become a little narrow path on Bollaert-le-Gavrian Street.

Point 6

Take right and then left to Vandamme Square. Take St Nicolas Street and then right. Turn left (Monneclaye Street) and back to the Grand-Place.

To know more about Cassel’s history

(1) The Hôtel de la Noble Cour

Also known as the Landshuys. off Cassel’s Grande Place houses the Musée de Flandre, which opened in 2010. The museum presents the art, history and folklore of the French Flanders region. Built in the 16th century under Spanish rule, the mansion’s stone-built façade (unusual for Flanders) is decorated in a French Renaissance style and has unusual carvings of grotesque heads, mythical beasts and other figures. The building originally housed the “Noble Court” of the Lords of Cassel, who had authority over a swathe of territory from Ypres in modern Belgium to Saint-Omer.

(2) The 3 battles held in Cassel

1071

In 1071, the sixth Count of Flanders, Arnulf III, was killed in the first Battle of Cassel by the forces of Robert the Frisian in a dispute over the succession to the title of count. Although Arnulf was numerically superior and was supported by King Philip I of France, Robert was able to defeat his rival’s army and took the title of Count of Flanders with the acquiescence of Philip I after a further five years of struggle. The town was re-fortified, possibly by Robert, with a castle and a new set of walls built on the remains of the old Roman walls. The castle does not survive today – it was already in ruins by the early 18th century – but is depicted on old engravings as a large square tower, the Tour Grise, dominating the western flank of the hill.

1328

Cassel was the site of a second battle that took place on 23 August 1328 involving Philip VI of France and a rebel force led by Nicolaas Zannekin. The rebels had driven the ruling Count Louis I out of Flanders and sought to press their advantage by occupying Cassel and attacking the French royal army nearby. Although they achieved some initial successes, the rebels were decisively defeated when William I, Count of Hainaut lent his support to the French side.

1677

By end of the 16th century Cassel had become a border town between France and the Spanish Netherlands. The French repeatedly fought with Spain and later the independent Dutch Republic for control of the town; in March 1645, Gaston, Duke of Orléans seized it but lost it again to the Spanish a few months later. In 1658 Turenne expelled two Irish regiments in the pay of the Spanish who were garrisoning Cassel. The French captured the town in July 1676 under Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humières and strengthened the castle. The following year, a third Battle of Cassel took place just west of the town on 11 April 1677 when a French army under François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg and Philippe I of Orléans defeated Dutch forces commanded by William III of Orange. The battle took place after King Louis XIV of France besieged the Dutch-held town of Saint-Omer during the Franco–Dutch War. William sent an army to relieve Saint-Omer but was defeated at the village of Zuytpeene just to the west of Cassel, losing 7-8,000 men killed or wounded and another 4,000 taken prisoner. Saint-Omer fell a week later.

(3) The Castle Windmill

Kasteel Meulen (“Castle Windmill”) is a post mill situated on the highest point of Mont Cassel on the site of the former castle. A windmill constructed here in the 16th century burned down on 30 October 1911. It was replaced in 1947 by an 18th century windmill that was moved from nearby Arnèke, one of around twenty that once existed in the area. The mill is open to the public and still operates daily during the high season.

(4) Marshal Foch (1851 –1929)

He was a French soldier, military theorist, and First World War hero credited with possessing “the most original and subtle mind in the French army” in the early 20th century. Known for the battle of the Marne. Cassel served as the headquarters of Marshal Ferdinand Foch during the early part of the First World War, between October 1914 and May 1915. Foch had previously been based at Doullens north of Amiens, but removed his headquarters to Cassel to take advantage of its strategic position near the northern end of the Western Front and to be closer to the Belgian headquarters at Veurne. From 1916-1918, Cassel was the headquarters for the British Second Army under Sir Herbert Plumer. The town avoided significant damage during the war, though it came under occasional shellfire when the Germans advanced to within 18 kilometres (11 mi) during the Battle of the Lys in April 1918.

(5) The Collégiale Notre-Dame de la Crypte

The Collégiale Notre-Dame de la Crypte is Cassel’s main church, built in brick. Parts date from the 11th century but the main part is a 16th-century Gothic structure of a design known as a hallekerk or hall-church, peculiar to Flanders and Artois. It comprises a huge rectangular space with three gables, three aisles, three apses and a square tower over the transept. During his stay in Cassel during the First World War, Marshal Foch regularly prayed here.

On behalf of French Craft Brewers, we thank you for visiting the city of Cassel.

Now, let’s have lunch in a typical northern French restaurant: