Menin Gate, Ypres
Menenpoort, Ieper
A First World War memorial gate in Ypres, Belgium, inscribed with the names of over 50,000 missing Commonwealth soldiers, where the Last Post is sounded every evening at 8 p.m.
Ypres is about 35 km from Lille and was almost levelled during the First World War. The Menin Gate, completed in 1927, bears the names of about 54,000 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient and have no known grave. Since 1928, except during the Second World War occupation, local firefighters have played the Last Post under the gate every evening at 8 p.m. The ceremony lasts about 15 minutes, so arrive early. Nearby, you can visit the rebuilt Cloth Hall and the In Flanders Fields Museum.
Opening hours
Open all day; ceremony every evening at 20:00
Nearby sights
- Citadel of Lille & Bois de Boulogne
- Lille Zoo
- Charles de Gaulle Birthplace
- Hospice Comtesse Museum
- Vieux-Lille
- Lille Cathedral (Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille)
- Maison Méert
- Grand Place (Place du Général-de-Gaulle)