Leie
| Leie | ||
 Course of the river in France |
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| Data | ||
| Water code | FR : E3-0120 | |
| location | France , Belgium | |
| River system | Scheldt | |
| Drain over | Scheldt → North Sea | |
| source | in the municipality of Lisbourg 50 ° 31 ′ 30 ″ N , 2 ° 13 ′ 23 ″ E |
|
| Source height | approx. 157 m | |
| muzzle | in the urban area of Ghent in the Scheldt Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 35 " N , 3 ° 44 ′ 26" E 51 ° 2 ′ 35 " N , 3 ° 44 ′ 26" E |
|
| Mouth height | approx. 4 m OP | |
| Height difference | approx. 153 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 0.76 ‰ | |
| length | 202 km | |
| Catchment area | 2900 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Douvebeek , Heulebeek , Almond | |
| Right tributaries | Laquette , Clarence , Lawe , Deûle | |
| Big cities | Ghent | |
| Medium-sized cities | Armentières , Comines-Warneton , Kortrijk , Deinze | |
| Small towns | Aire-sur-la-Lys , Merville , Comines , Halluin , Wervik | |
| Navigable | from the estuary to Aire-sur-la-Lys | |
 Location of the Lys |
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The Leie (French: Lys , Latin: Legia ) is a river that runs through France and Belgium . It rises in the municipal area of Lisbourg (Flemish: Liegesboort ), in the French department of Pas-de-Calais , generally drains in a north-easterly direction and after a total of 202 kilometers flows into the city of Ghent , in the Belgian province of East Flanders , as a left tributary into the Scheldt .
course
Of the total length of the Leie, 109 kilometers flow through Belgian territory. Today, the river forms the border between Belgium and France over a length of around 24 kilometers . During the Frankish Empire it ran along the border between Neustria and Austrasia .
The course can be divided into the following sections:
- Upper course of the Leie :
Here the Leie runs as a relatively small river through the towns and Lisbourg Thérouanne and finally reaches Aire-sur-la-Lys , where the Canal Dunkerque-Escaut is true that here from channels Canal d'Aire and Canal de Neufossé is formed .
- Canalized Lys in France:
It crosses the large shipping lane and from here on it has also been expanded even in smaller dimensions for shipping. It runs through the Nord department , touches the towns of Merville and Armentières (15 km northwest of Lille) and reaches the border with Belgium at Houplines .
- Leie as a border river between France and Belgium :
Belgian territory is now on the left bank and French territory on the right bank. At Deûlémont the canalised Deûle joins from the right. Important places on the French side are Comines and Halluin , on the Belgian side Comines-Warneton and Wervik .
- Leie in Belgium:
The Leie initially runs in the province of West Flanders via Kortrijk , where there is a navigable cross-connection to the Scheldt via the Bossuit-Kortrijk Canal , and on to Deinze . From here, cargo ships can continue to the Gent-Oostende Canal via the Schipdonk Canal . The Leie itself runs in striking meanders to the center of Ghent, where it flows into the Scheldt.
Economical meaning
The lime and iron poor water of the Leie was important for flax cultivation for a long time . The nickname of the river Goldener Fluss originated from the flax processing . In 1943 the flax industry in the Leie region was completely banned due to the environmental pollution. Today the Leie has economic importance as a waterway for cargo ships . These can sail across the Scheldt to Antwerp (the largest Belgian port ) and the North Sea.
history
Several battles of the First and Second World Wars were named after the Lys:
- Leieschlacht (1918) , mostly Fourth Battle of Ypres called
- Leieschlacht (1940) as part of the western campaign (May - June 1940)
The Lys department, formed after the French Revolution, was named after the river.
Attractions
The area of the Leie between Deinze and Ghent is known for its beautiful nature and inspired many painters from the Latemse Scholen .
Web links
- Leie at SANDRE (French)
- Description of the river course in Belgium (English)
- Entry as a shipping route in the Babel project (French)
Upper course of the Leie in Lisbourg
Leie as a border river at Comines-Warneton
The Leie in Deinze
The Leie in Ghent just before the mouth
Individual evidence
- ↑ source geoportail.fr
- ↑ The old Flemish name in the spelling Liegesborth is translated as: Birth of the Leie , hence the source of the Leie . See: flandrianostra.org ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
