Zandvoorde is a village in the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 province of West Flanders and a part (deelgemeente

Deelgemeente

A deelgemeente is a subdivision of a gemeente in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Belgium:...

) of the municipality of Zonnebeke

Zonnebeke

Zonnebeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Beselare, Geluveld, Passendale, Zandvoorde and Zonnebeke proper. On January 1, 2006 Zonnebeke had a total population of 11,758...

. Zandvoorde is a rural village, in the rolling landscape of the southern part of the province.

History

Old listings of the place date back to 1102, as Sanfort. "Sant" refers to sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

 (in modern Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

: zand), "fort" refers to Ford

Ford (crossing)

A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...

 (in modern Dutch: voorde), a shallow crossing in a watercourse.

The village was completely destroyed during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Landmarks

• The Parish and its church are named after Saint Bartholomew. The current church dates from 1923–1925, after the old church had been destroyed during the First World War.
• The Zantvoorde New British Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
  
   World War I military cemetery. In the village centre, there is a British war memorial, the The Household Cavalry Monument.

Trivia

• In the north of the province of West Flanders, there's another village with the name Zandvoorde, a part of the city of Oostende