Izegem

Izegem is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality is made up of Izegem proper and the former towns of Emelgem, added in 1965, and Kachtem, added in 1977. Izegem lies on the southern bank of the Mandel river, with Emelgem and Kachtem on the north, and a large industrial zone along the Roeselare-Leie canal has made the three one urban area. On 1 January 2006 it had 26,544 inhabitants on 25.48 square kilometres. The city is nicknamed the pekkerstad, borstelstad and schoenenstad for the shoe and brush making that made it famous; only a few factories remain, but a shoe and brush museum records the trade. Until the 1920s the name was often spelled Iseghem, and the surname Van Iseghem originally referred to the city.