The New York Times ranks Ypres among its 52 Places to Go in 2018

01/02/2018

The New York Times, the famous American newspaper with three million subscribers, traditionally starts the year by drawing up a list of unmissable Places to Go. The Belgian town of Ypres has been included among this year's 52 destinations.

New Orleans, Colombia and the Basilicata region of Italy are the three stars on the list put together by New York Times journalists. Ypres, ranked 46th, is the only Belgian town to make the list, but the American newspaper does not consider it the lowest ranked. It was first and foremost its rich history, in addition to its charm, that earned Ypres its place on this famous list. But we cannot talk about the history of Ypres without mentioning a particularly important event in history - the First World War.

The New York Times' choice is therefore not down to chance. Ypres was the scene of a number of bloody battles during the Great War, and was also the site where chlorine gas was used as a weapon of mass destruction for the first time. The city was ravaged by the atrocity of the war and almost entirely destroyed; it was rebuilt brick by brick starting in 1921, rising like a phoenix from its ashes.

For the New York Times, there is no doubt that this "World War I survivor" is "a prime spot to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War" and therefore one of the places it is strongly recommended to visit in 2018.