We received around a hundred photos from all over the world, all depicting the 'Thousand Facets of Belgium'.
© Belgian MFA/ Pascal De Meester
The photographers captured iconic places such as the elegant Atomium, the Grand-Place in Brussels and its carpet of flowers, and the warm lights of a sunset on the North Sea beach. Others chose to show us lesser-known places, with a glimpse of Belgium in all four seasons, from the orchards in bloom in Sint-Truiden to Walzin Castle in summer and Malou Castle in the snow. Not forgetting the cities of Brussels, Dinant, Bruges and Antwerp, taken from more unusual angles with a certain, sometimes even slightly surrealist, artistic talent.
The photo of the 'Palace of Justice' in Brussels by Pascal De Meester and 'Menenpoort' (Menin Gate) by Gill Van den Bussche in Ypres won the Jury Prize and the Public Prize respectively.
While the jury was won over by the sunlight under the dome of the Palace of Justice in Brussels, the public preferred the play of light on the Menin Gate, a monument erected in Ypres in memory of the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the First World War.
The two winners each win a gift voucher worth €250, while the other winners will soon be receiving a package in the Belgian colours. All winners will be contacted personally by e-mail.
Thanks again to the many participants who sent us these wonderful pictures of our country.
Discover this year's most popular pictures at the beginning of the Belgium in pictures section.
