Deinze () is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Belgian province of

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree,

Nevele Nevele () is a village and former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. In 2 ...

, Petegem-aan-de-Leie, , Sint-Martens-Leerne, Vinkt, Vosselare, Wontergem, and Zeveren. On 1 January 2022, Deinze had a population of 44,315. The municipality's total area is , giving a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 342 inhabitants per km². On 1 January 2019, the municipality of

was merged into Deinze.

History

In 1695, during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, an English force garrisoned in the town under the command of the Irish general Francis Fergus O’Farrell was forced to surrender to French forces.

Postal history

The DEYNZE post office opened in 1836 with the postal code 31 (before 1864), then 94 prior to 1874. The only other office in the area before 1910 was PETEGHEM (not to be confused with PETEGHEM-LEZ-AUDENAERDE), which opened 1 June 1874. Postal codes in 1969Liste des Numéros Postaux, Administration des Postes, Bruxelles 1969. (before the merger of municipalities in 1977): * 9800 Deinze * 9801 Astene * 9802 Petegem-aan-de-Leie * 9803 Gottem * 9804 Grammene * 9805 Wontergem * 9806 Vinkt * 9807 Zeveren * 9852 Sint-Martens-Leerne * 9853 Bachte-Maria-Leerne * 9854 Meigem

Sports

Deinze is the starting location of the cycling race

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

. It is also the operational base of the

Ineos Grenadiers Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the Manchester Velo ...

cycle racing Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in s ...

team, formally Team Sky.

Places of interest

* Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek, a museum dedicated to arts and folk objects created in the

Leie The Lys () or Leie () is a river in France and Belgium, and a left-bank tributary of the Scheldt. Its source is in Pas-de-Calais, France, and it flows into the river Scheldt, with the confluence in the city of Ghent, Belgium. Its total length ...

region * Ooidonk Castle, a castle dating from the 16th century * Filliers Grain Distillery, a gin distillery

Famous inhabitants

* Dirk van Braeckel, head of design at Bentley Motors * Karel Justinus Calewaert, Roman Catholic bishop * Raoul De Keyser, painter * Rudy Dhaenens, cyclist, World Champion in 1990 * Poppo of Deinze, saint *

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator, former athlete, and physician, who served as the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 201 ...

, former president of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

* Charles Felix Van Quickenborne, founder of

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

in St. Louis, Mo., USA *

Karel Van Wijnendaele Karel Van Wijnendaele, pseudonym of Carolus Ludovicius Steyaert (Torhout, 16 November 1882 - Deinze, 20 December 1961), was a Flemish sports journalism, sports journalist. He was the founder and first organizer of the Tour of Flanders (men's race), ...

, founder of the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

* Tanneke Sconyncx, alleged

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

* Rose Bertram, fashion model

Gallery

File:Deinze, Belgium ; Ferraris map.jpg, Deinze on the

Ferraris map The Ferraris map or map of the Austrian Netherlands is a historical map created between 1770 and 1778 by Count Joseph de Ferraris and includes 275 sheets published at the original scale of 1/11.5. The map was made in response to a request by ...

(around 1775) File:Deinze. parochiekerk Sint-Martinus en Sint-Antonius Abt IMG 6685 2023-06-06 14.53.jpg, Deinze, church: parochiekerk Sint-Martinus en Sint-Antonius Abt File:Bachte Maria Leerne, de Blauwe Poort (toegangspoort kasteel van Ooidonk) oeg38122 foto2 2013-05-12 16.02.jpg, Bachte Maria Leerne, de Blauwe Poort (entrance gate to castle: kasteel van Ooidonk) File:Bachte Maria Leerne, kerk van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw en Sint-Jan-Baptist.jpg, Bachte Maria Leerne, church: de parochiekerk Sint Petrus en Paulus

References

External links

Deinzeonline.be
- Available in Dutch
Official website
- Available in Dutch, French, German and English
Local radio station website
{{Authority control Municipalities of East Flanders Populated places in East Flanders