Lys (river)

"Lys River" redirects here. For the tributary of the Dora Baltea in Italy, seeLys (Dora Baltea).

For the village in Estonia, seeLeie, Estonia.

Lys
Physical characteristics
Mouth	Scheldt 51°3′18″N3°44′3″E

The course of the Leie

TheLeie(DutchandGerman) orLys(French) is ariverinFranceandBelgium,and aleft tributaryof theScheldt.Its source is inPas-de-Calais,France, and it flows into the riverScheldtinGhent,Belgium. Its total length is 202 kilometres (126 mi).

It is a very polluted river from the high population densisty and industrialisation in both Northern France and Belgium. Historically, the Lys valley was known for the spinning and weaving offlax.The region of the Leie (between Deinze and Ghent) was as a favourite place for numerous painters in the first half of the 20th century.

The source of the Lys is in a village,Lisbourg,east ofFruges,in thePas-de-Calaisdepartment of France. It flows generally northeast through the followingdepartments of France,provinces of Belgiumand towns and municipalities:

• Pas-de-Calais(F):Thérouanne,Aire-sur-la-Lys
• Nord(F):Merville,Armentières,Halluin
• Hainaut(B):Comines-Warneton
• West Flanders(B):Menen,Wevelgem,Kortrijk,Waregem,Wervik
• East Flanders(B):Zulte,Deinze,Ghent

The river was the location of three battles between the Allies and the German Army. During theFirst World Warin 1918 the location was the scene of theFirst Battle of the Lys,which was part of theGerman Spring Offensiveand later that year of the Second Battle of the Lys, which was part of the Allies'Hundred Days Offensive.During theSecond World War,theBattle of the Lyswas part of the 1940 German offensive in Flanders towards the English Channel.

External links

• Geoportail.fr
• The Lys (Leie) at the Sandre database
• River basin of the Lys in Flanders
• River basin of the Lys in Flanders