Lo-Reninge: IJzer Landscapes, Trails and Heritage

Reninge brings together rural trails, river landscapes and a rich local history. Along the Marchiennegoedpad, you’ll encounter historic sites and open countryside; the Hooidrevenpad follows the IJzer and crosses expansive hay meadows. This gives you different experiences to choose from: a trail linked to Reninge’s history or a route shaped by the river and meadows.

Walking Trails Between the IJzer and Heritage

The Marchiennegoedpad runs through rural Reninge and passes, among other places, Marchiennegoed and a former military cemetery. Marchiennegoed is a historic hoeve, or farmstead. Its surviving features include a broad moat and a watering pond; the barn, farmstead, moat and pond are protected as a monument. Several rows of pollarded black poplars add to the farmstead’s character. The trail thus connects the rural surroundings with tangible traces of local history.

The Hooidrevenpad offers a different perspective on the landscape: it runs along the IJzer, crosses extensive hay meadows and takes in the natural surroundings of the Reningse Broeken. The low-lying IJzerbroeken form the IJzer’s winter floodplain. The river, meadows and low-lying terrain give this route its own character. When choosing between the two trails, you can decide whether to focus on the historic sites around Marchiennegoed or on the river and meadow landscape.

The Matthijs De Vischpad also combines culture and heritage with a rural setting. It passes places associated with the artist’s life and work and invites you to discover Reninge. The routes each have a different focus, so you don’t have to choose just one theme.

Art, Architectural History and Memorial Sites

The Sint-Rictrudiskerk features paintings by Samuel De Vriendt and Matthijs De Visch, as well as stained-glass windows from the transitional period of classical Expressionism. The rectory of the Sint-Rictrudis parish is an example of a rural 17th-century parish rectory. Together, these buildings and works of art reveal different aspects of the local heritage.

The convent of the Zusters Annuntiaten was founded on 21 August 1816 as a so-called “Schole van bermhertigheid” and began as a lace-making school. During the First World War, it served briefly as a headquarters. Another historical trace is Reninge’s former castle: it dates from 1627 and was designed in the Flemish Renaissance style. The coat of arms of the Vilain XIIII family is set into its front façade.

The half-timbered farmhouse on St-Corynstraat probably dates from the 17th century. Its cart shed and sheep barn were relocated from Izegem and Kortrijk, using a method also applied in Bokrijk. Details like these make the site interesting for visitors who want to take in not only individual buildings but also their construction and history.

The former military cemetery was already in use during the First World War, but its final layout dates from 1920. Belgian soldiers and seven French soldiers from the First World War, as well as 21 British soldiers who fell in the Second World War, are buried there. The Monument to the Fallen of Reninge commemorates the military and civilian victims of both world wars and is made entirely of hard stone.

Local Production and a Look at Vintage Cars

Local production includes Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle. At its own brewery in Reninge, it makes top-fermented beers using regional ingredients such as Poperinge hops. The Oldtimer Museum offers a very different way to explore history: it displays 95 cars dating from 1899 to the 1970s, as well as about 25 vintage motorcycles. Reservations are required for groups of at least 15 people; if you plan to visit the museum with a group of this size, confirm the requirement in advance.

Discover more destinations: Pollinkhove, Noordschote, Veurne, Beernem, Jabbeke, Oudenburg, Zonnebeke, Middelkerke.

For the regional travel overview: West Flanders.