Ypres Cloth Hall The Cloth Hall ( Dutch : " Lakenhal " or " Lakenhalle " ) in Ypres , Belgium , was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages , when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city ' s prosperous cloth industry . The original structure , erected mainly in the 13th century and completed 1304 , lay in ruins after artillery fire devastated Ypres in World War I . Between 1933 and 1967 , the hall was meticulously reconstructed to its prewar condition , under the guidance of architects J . Coomans and P . A . Pauwels . At 125 metres in breadth , with a 70 - metre - high belfry tower , the Cloth Hall recalls the importance and wealth of the medieval trade city . In a row spanning the front of the edifice are tall pointed arches that alternately enclose windows and blind niches . Before the Great War , the niches framed life - size statues of historical personages , counts and countesses of Flanders . The niches on the side wings are now mostly vacant , but those in the centre contain statues of Count Baldwin IX of Flanders and Mary of Champagne , legendary founders of the building ; and King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth , under whose reign the reconstruction began . Situated between these two couples , directly above the central archway entrance or " Donkerpoort " , is a statue of Our Lady of Thuyne , the patron of Ypres . The belfry , capped with four turret s and a spire , houses a carillon with 49 bells . From a pole atop the spire a gilded dragon overlooks the city . The tower offers an expansive view of the surroundings , and was used as a watchtower in centuries past . It has also accommodated the town archives , a treasury , an armory and a prison . In less enlightened times , cats , then associated in some way with black magic , were thrown off the belfry for reasons that are not clearly understood . Today , a jester commemorates this act by tossing stuffed toy felines from the tower during the triennial Cat Festival . The Cloth Hall used to be accessible by boat via the Ieperlee waterway , which is now covered . The spacious ground - floor halls where wool and cloth were once sold are now used for exhibitions ; the second floor , formerly a warehouse , now hosts the In Flanders Fields Museum , dedicated to the history of World War I . Against the east face of the edifice stands the elegant " Nieuwerck " , whose Renaissance style contrasts markedly with the Gothic of the main building . Originally built between 1619 and 1622 , and reconstructed after the war , this annex now serves as a town hall . A painting of Cloth Hall as it appeared in ruins in 1918 , by Scottish - born artist James Kerr - Lawson , was one of over 1 , 000 pieces of art commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund for part of a World War I memorial building that was planned after the war . However , the memorial building was eventually scrapped in favour of a memorial cenotaph at the centre of Confederation Square , across the street from Parliament Hill in Ottawa . The painting of Cloth Hall , and seven other of the commissioned pieces , were instead hung in the Senate Chamber of the newly re - built Centre Block of parliament in 1921 , and remains there today .