Historical sites 
Because
Heuvelland lies in the outermost tip of the country, close to ‘de schreve’
(dialect word for the Belgian/French border), it used to have some strange
visitors like smugglers and beggars of the wood. In 1568, a few beggars of the
wood broke into the presbytery of Reningelst. They took the priest, the curate
and the sexton prisoner. The group went to Loker and Dranouter. In Dranouter,
the church was set on fire and the priest was taken prisoner. From there, they
went into the woods near the French Nieppe. The beggars and their prisoners
returned to Nieuwkerke near the Westhof early in the morning where the three
priests were finally killed more or less on this spot.
Also in the 16th century, and also in Dranouter, Petrus Pancius was born
(1552). After his studies, he fled as a reformed clergyman to the Netherlands
where he dedicated himself to developing maps. In 1607 he designed a first map
of the world. His sea maps stimulated the discovery of Nova Zembla and
Spitsbergen.
Today, on the Plancius Square in Dranouter, you can find a monument that shows a
number of maps from his hand.
Our historical sites:
| Naam | Samenvatting | Straat | Acties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calvary Zwarte Molen | This calvary was erected in 1909 in commemoration of the events that took place during the 16th century. 3 priests were murdered by the wood beggars. | Zwartemolenstraat | toon |
| Pavlik-monument | This monument commemorates the Tsjech pilot Pavlik whose plane crashed on the slopes of Mount Kemmel during the Second World War. | Lettingstraat | toon |
| Petrus Plancius Monument | This monument honours the famous inhabitant of Dranouter: Petrus Plancius, a famous cartographer from the 16th century. The monument shows us some of his maps en overseas journeys. | Planciusplein | toon |
| Polish Chapel | This chapel was placed to commemorate the liberation of the village by the first Polish brigade on September 6th 1944. The statue of the black madonna was sculpted by Bruno Recki, who participated in the liberation of the village. | Schomminkelstraat | toon |
| The Tomb | This stone was erected in 1928 and commemorates three priests who were killed during the 16th century. | Eikelstraat | toon |
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