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Belgian Village

Guidebook

More than 100 buildings -- among them a church, a carousel and a rathskeller -- comprise a charming Flemish town of the year 1700. View the International Area Map Locate It: F42 Spread over nearly four acres and surrounded by a wall, the privately sponsored village offers dozens of shops and restaurants set along narrow, cobbled streets. COLORED SANDS. Within the church -- an exact replica of the 15th Century Gothic Church of St. Nicholas in Antwerp -- many masterpieces have been copied in sand painting, in which the Flemish excel. GILLE DANCERS. Accompanied by drums and bugles, clowns wearing wooden shoes, ostrich feathers and bells dance through the streets. NATIVE ARTISANS. Metalworkers, diamond cutters, lace weavers and other craftsmen ply their trades and sell their wares. A vendor dispenses fruit and wine from a cart. BEER HALL. In a 1,500-seat rathskeller under the City Hall, full meals are served, as well as imported and domestic beer. Other restaurants specialize in such delicacies as Belgian waffles. The description of this exhibit from the 1965 Official Guide Book A SUCCESSFUL TRANSPLANT THE STRIKING THING about today's Scrapbook foto is the contrast between the Old-World Belgium Village and the web of up-to-the-minute superhighways bordering the fairgrounds. The village appears to have been picked up in Belgium and set down here intact - which is close to the truth. Inside is a glittering array of shops, artisans at work, exhibits, amusements and food-and-drink spots - including several large restaurants. And there's even one outside the walls (foreground). Source: News Colorfoto by Daniel Jacino - New York Sunday News, August 22, 1965 UNHURRIED SCENE in Belgian Village's Grande Place presents replica of city hall of Damme, Cafe de Belgique in front of it and chimes tower at left. After dark, it's a gay spot. Source: News Colorfoto by Daniel Jacino - New York Sunday News, September 27, 1964 WITH "OLD" HOUSES and narrow, cobbled streets, canals and bridges, alfresco stands and musicians, Belgian Village makes the visitor feel he's really in the old country. It's Rathskeller is the Fair's largest restaurant. Source: News Colorfoto by Richard Lewis - New York Sunday News, June 6, 1965 Aerial view from New York State Observation Tower of the Pavilion of Paris (left) Vatican Pavilion (center) and Belgian Village (behind). Photo courtesy of Joan Lyon.   Source: Photograph © Copyright 2000, Alfred Gedney