Kortrijk is focusing on greening and preserving its cemeteries as places of remembrance and comfort. The city is developing management plans for the cemeteries of Aalbeke, Rollegem, Bellegem, and Kooigem, for which 99,825 euros (incl. VAT) have been allocated. A management plan for the Sint-Jansbegraafplaats was previously drawn up. In a next phase, Bissegem, Heule Watermolen, Marke, and the cemetery in Mellestraat-Heule will follow. These plans form the basis for future investments aimed at funerary heritage, dignified farewells, and the evolution towards memorial parks.
The city is also inventorying valuable graves. At the Sint-Jansbegraafplaats, this concerns nearly 700 graves whose concessions have expired. In Aalbeke, there are 180 valuable graves. These graves will be marked with a label. A new regulation on godparenthood and reuse, which will be submitted to the municipal council for approval in December, aims to ensure the maintenance and preservation of this heritage. Through godparenthood, individuals or organizations take on the maintenance of a historical grave for a period of nine years. Reuse provides new destinations for monuments, such as urn chapels.
Wout Maddens, alderman for Cemeteries, emphasizes the importance of actively giving a future to this heritage. The city has awarded a contract of over 164,000 euros to Rephine Stoneworks from Mariakerke for the inspection, maintenance, and restoration of valuable historical graves owned by the city. This aims to prevent further decay. The restoration of the Jenart-Lagae burial chapel at the Sint-Jansbegraafplaats is also nearing completion and will be repurposed as an urn chapel.
On Sunday, November 1st at 10 AM, the annual tribute to the deceased will take place at the Sint-Jansbegraafplaats. The city council and patriotic associations will lay flowers. On the same day, Reveil will be held, a free moment of comfort at Bissegem Plage with word artist Ingeborg Vandenbroucke and musicians Illias Sarhan (saxophone), Andrea Onnis (clarinet), and Florestan Bataillie (piano). On Sunday, November 8th at 2:30 PM, a guided walk will take place at the Sint-Jansbegraafplaats, starting at Meensesteenweg 88.
