Ardooie
Ardooie, West Flemish: Ardôoie, is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Ardooie proper and Koolskamp. In 2006 Ardooie had a total population of 9,147. The local inhabitants are called Ardooienaren.
Sights
- St. Martin's Church with a Gothic tower, listed since 1939 as part of the national monumental heritage;
- the mansion de Mûelenaere, today a library;
- Ardooie Castle, also known as the De Jonghe d'Ardoye Castle : this Neo-Classical country house was built at the end of the 18th century by the local landowners, the Van Ardooie family, who also called themselves as D'Ardoye. It became a protected historical monument in 1984, housing a communication agency since 2007. The building and most of the grounds remain private property.
- a brewery-complex from the 19th century;
- the Rysselende Mill, constructed in 1855.
Hamlets
# | Name | Area | Population |
I | Ardooie - Ardooie - Tasse - Sneppe | 24.14 | 6.882 |
II | Koolskamp | 10.43 | 2.265 |
Ardooie is adjacent to the following villages:
Accessibility
- The motorway E403 runs through the west of the village and has two exits, one for Ardooie itself and one for the part-municipality Koolskamp. On the other side of the village runs the N50 district road from Bruges to Kortrijk.
Industry
Although the village is quite small, many companies have their head-office here. It is best known for its frozen vegetables factories, seven in total, the highest number for a single municipality in Europe.The major companies in Ardooie are:
- Afschrift, industrial electricity and automation
- Ardicor, inhouse construction
- Ardo, frozen foods
- Ardovlam, protection against fire and burglary in buildings
- d'Arta, frozen vegetables
- Danis, in Koolskamp, producer of animal foods and specialising in construction of pig-sties
- Devriese, road construction
- DeZetel, furniture
- Dicogel-Begro, frozen vegetables
- Haco, manufacturer of woodworking machines
- Homifreez, frozen vegetables
- Louage & Wisselinck, construction of doors and furniture
- Metafox, furniture
- OVA, manufacturer of industrial vehicles
- Polaris Creative Solutions, creative agency and marketing company
- Planquette, veal
- Sioen Industries, textile manufacturer.
- Trans Novero, truck company
- Unifrost, frozen vegetables
- Vitalo, packaging
- Voeders Callewaert, animal nutrition
- Baleno Outerwear, outwear clothing
Politics
- Ardooie has been led for many years by the local VLD-party "Groep82" that occupied 2/3 of the seats in 2006.
- The mayor since 1989 is Karlos Callens, also a Flemish People's representative. He puts a lot effort into making Ardooie known in the world. By his work the Eneco Tour finished and started in Ardooie in 2008 and 2009.
Events
- Cyclocross race in October
- Sint-maartenfeest
Born in Ardooie
- 1874: Cyriel Verschaeve, priest, poet and collaborator.
- 1959: Filip Vanhaecke, marathon runner
- 1965: Marc Degryse, football player