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Thielt

Tielt
Municipality
Tielt from the east
Tielt from the east
Flag of Tielt
Flag
Coat of arms of Tielt
Coat of arms
Tielt is located in Belgium
Tielt
Tielt
Location in Belgium
Coordinates: 51°00′N 03°19′E / 51.000°N 3.317°E / 51.000; 3.317Coordinates: 51°00′N 03°19′E / 51.000°N 3.317°E / 51.000; 3.317
Country Belgium
Community Flemish Community
Region Flemish Region
Province West Flanders
Arrondissement Tielt
Government
 • Mayor Els Derammelaere (Open VLD)
 • Governing party/ies CD&V, N-VA
Area
 • Total 68.50 km2 (26.45 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2016)
 • Total 20,159
 • Density 290/km2 (760/sq mi)
Postal codes 8700
Area codes 051
Website www.tielt.be

Tielt (Dutch pronunciation: [tilt]) is a Belgian municipality in the province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Tielt proper and the villages of Aarsele, Kanegem, and Schuiferskapelle.

Some traces of Gallo-Roman occupation have been found in this area. The area was invaded by the Viking Rikiwulf of the Wulfing dynasty in 880, who built Rikiwulfinga-haim, which survives as the Rijkegem-kouter today. The first written mention of Tiletum, however, dates from 1105, when Baldric of Noyon, Bishop of Tournai, awarded the right of presentment for the parish church to the chapter of St Salvator in Harelbeke. In 1245, Margaret of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders gave the city its charter and decided to found a hospital here. A few years later, a market place and cloth hall were built as well. Like neighbouring Roeselare, Tielt was made part of the Kortrijk province of Flanders. In the 13th and 14th century, the economy of most Flemish cities was based on the cloth industry, while the rural areas lived on the products of agriculture.

In 1393, Philip the Bold decided to hold an annual fair in Tielt, which resulted in the city becoming the booming centre of the flax industry until the end of the 16th century. The following decades, however, were hard on Tielt as it suffered two major fires and a couple of epidemics, including the plague. Tielt also went through a severe famine at the end of the 17th century. From about 1700 until the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the city prospered again, this time as a regional center for the construction industry.


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