Kortrijk is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders. It is the capital and biggest city of the arrondissement of Kortrijk, which is both a judicial and an administrative arrondissement. Kortrijk (official name in Dutch and English, "Courtrai" in French) is the cultural, social and economic centre of an agglomeration of more than 300,000 inhabitants. Kortrijk is a city on the Leie River. Its most famous moment in history was the Battle of the Golden Spurs, when a peasant militia scored a victory against an army of heavily armed French nobility on July 11, 1302.
Kortrijk was well-known for its textiles, especially its linen.
Kortrijk lies at the junction of many important roads (E17, A17, A19) and railways, and can also be reached from the regional airport.
Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved and restored. The city center is one of the largest carfree areas in Belgium. The beguinage, as well as the belfry, were recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1998 and 1999.
Kortrijk has several indoor shopping centres such as the Ring Shopping Kortrijk Noord, Bouwcentrum Pottelberg and the new shopping centre K in Kortrijk (opened March 2010). The later is a downtown shopping centre, which links the main shopping street Lange Steenstraat with the Veemarket square and includes as many as 90 shops as electronics store Saturn, H