One Day in Kortrijk
Kortrijk doesn’t scream for attention — and that might be its greatest strength. In-between Ghent en Lille in the province of West Flanders, this compact city has quietly transformed the past decade and has become more active and more lived-in. I spent a day exploring across generations of history, climbing stone towers, finding a museum imagined on the basis of flax, and ended the evening in tranquility at the begijnhof. All on foot.
Abbey Beginnings: Museum Abby
My walk in Kortrijk began with a visit to the Museum Abby — and immediately, I slowed down. Housed within a centuries-old monastery site, the museum is more than a historical backdrop. It’s an architectural dialogue between the past and the present, brilliantly reimagined by Barozzi Veiga (Barcelona) and TAB Architects (Ghent).
Barozzi Veiga’s minimalism is deeply felt here: volumes are restrained, proportions precise, light is diffused. Every restored arch and rebuilt surface feels intentional — quiet, but not sterile. The collaboration with TAB Architects ensured historical fidelity without nostalgia. It’s restoration that doesn’t retreat, but reinterprets.
The scenography by Studio Roma weaves this all together: long linen curtains diffuse the light and frame views as if each space were a still image waiting to be taken. Sculptural vitrines and subtle thresholds guide the visitor like a camera gliding through sequences.
From a photographer’s point of view, the place is a gift: soft whites, ancient stone, filtered light — and a sense of time suspended.
Climbing Above the City: Saint Martin’s Tower & the Belfry
From the abbey, I moved straight into the vertical and climbed teh Saint-Martin’s Tower. The climb up is no small feat — a winding staircase, long and narrow, that eventually rewards you with sweeping views over the city and its surroundings.
Kortrijk’s scale reveals itself here: dense, walkable, and layered with a mix of old and new. The nearby Belfry, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, adds another historical punctuation mark.
Reflections at the Broel Towers
The Broel Towers are perhaps Kortrijk’s most recognizable landmark — two medieval defensive towers connected by a small bridge over the River Leie. And while they’ve stood for centuries, it’s the area around them that surprised me most.
There’s life here now: people walk along the banks, cyclists pass by, and the reflections in the water feel painterly. It’s a place you want to revisit at different hours just to catch the light shifting across the stone.
A Material Story: Texture Museum
Texture is not your typical museum. Housed in a former flax-processing warehouse, it’s been renovated with boldness and care. The golden comb-like structure on its roof is visible from afar, but it’s the integration of flax throughout the building that struck me most.
Flax isn’t just the theme of the exhibition — it’s embedded in the walls, used as insulation (both energetic as acoustic), and forms tactile partitions inside the space. The architecture blends past and present with surprising warmth. The exhibits themselves are playful and accessible, but I spent most of my time looking at how material and design intertwine.
Closing in Silence: The Begijnhof
After looping back past the Broel Towers, I ended my day at the Begijnhof. These courtyards and whitewashed homes once housed religious women, and today it’s one of the city’s most serene places.
Beautifully preserved, the Begijnhof doesn’t need drama to make an impression. Its narrow lanes and modest homes offer a quiet contrast to the vertical drama of earlier stops — a gentle exhale at the end of a full day.
Kortrijk: A Compact Surprise
What surprised me most was just how walkable and cohesive the city is. You never feel rushed or stretched between sites. Everything I saw — the medieval towers, modern museums, quiet courtyards — was stitched together with ease.
Kortrijk may not be a headliner like Ghent or Bruges, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s ideal for a one-day visit, for anyone looking for something honest, textured, and human-scale.
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