Z
Zero
Guest
Normally if someone invited or suggested that we visit a fort i would usually say hell no. Being so old many of the forts ive seen tend to be very empty, ransacked and vandalized with little or no notable features. If your a nut for historical stuff then forts are probably more your cup of tea then mine, so knock yourself out.
Due to lack of planning and some seriously bad luck at Beringen we found ourselves in the middle of an exploration void. There was nothing for miles in every direction and it was only 7 o'clock. Thats far to early to go to bed. The nearest option was a fort to the south, "La Chartreuse". We had to do something so we hopped in the car and headed over.
La Chartreuse was built in 1817 by the Dutch army, 13 years before the country of Belgium came into existence. Over the years it served several uses from a German prison during the first and second world war all the way to a US military hospital.
A previously stated i very much dislike forts. But this one is special. Inscribed on the walls of the main buildings and pillboxes are drawings, painting and small messages from those who were stationed there. You had everything from full size works of art, smaller sketches of soldiers running over no mans land and even poems and jokes.
We spent hours pacing the buildings. Up and down the windy maze of tunnels, passageways and chambers, new artwork at every corner, some clearly showing the change in attitudes between our generation and theirs. Incredible doesn't even come close to describing La Chartreuse. Eventually there came a point when we had to say enough was enough, we had wandered around well into the early hours of the morning and needed to sleep. We packed our bags and headed out with only a small portion of the site seen.
Pics - Buildings
Pics - Some of the artwork
Due to lack of planning and some seriously bad luck at Beringen we found ourselves in the middle of an exploration void. There was nothing for miles in every direction and it was only 7 o'clock. Thats far to early to go to bed. The nearest option was a fort to the south, "La Chartreuse". We had to do something so we hopped in the car and headed over.
La Chartreuse was built in 1817 by the Dutch army, 13 years before the country of Belgium came into existence. Over the years it served several uses from a German prison during the first and second world war all the way to a US military hospital.
A previously stated i very much dislike forts. But this one is special. Inscribed on the walls of the main buildings and pillboxes are drawings, painting and small messages from those who were stationed there. You had everything from full size works of art, smaller sketches of soldiers running over no mans land and even poems and jokes.
We spent hours pacing the buildings. Up and down the windy maze of tunnels, passageways and chambers, new artwork at every corner, some clearly showing the change in attitudes between our generation and theirs. Incredible doesn't even come close to describing La Chartreuse. Eventually there came a point when we had to say enough was enough, we had wandered around well into the early hours of the morning and needed to sleep. We packed our bags and headed out with only a small portion of the site seen.
Pics - Buildings
Pics - Some of the artwork
