It wasn't the first time that we visited Ghent. We've already visited this beautiful city a couple of years ago. But when we suggested my father in law that we would take him and my mother in law for a city trip and he mentioned he would like to go to Belgium, I knew we had to go to Ghent again.
Ghent really is my favorite city in Belgium by far. I've been to quite a few cities and Brughes comes clost, but nothing is like Ghent. I just love it! And my parents in law too after this weekend.
I'll share you a few of the highlights of Ghent, but I could make a post with hundreds of photos if I like. Ghent is just like an open air museum. You just walk around in the middle ages. The the old buildings are in such a good state only they house chocolate stores and tourist shops now.
History
Ghent has a rich history dating back to Roman times. It became a major city during the Middle Ages. It's good location and made it perfect for trading goods trade and textile production. In the 14th century, Ghent was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Europe. It even had more inhabitants than Paris and London back then.
That Ghent is such a wealthy city can be seen by the number of stone buildings. Many cities in those times mainly had wooden buildings. In Dutch we have the term 'stone rich' for someone who is very wealthy. That comes from the people that could afford stone buildings in the middle ages.
A lot of the wealth can be seen in the harbour. There are a lot of unique and richly decorated buildings. The building in the middle was built in the 16th century and served as a meeting place for the Free Boatmen, a group of boatmen who enjoyed certain privileges.
On the left is the Corn Measurers house. It was built in the 17th century and served as the headquarters for the guild responsible for weighing and measuring grain traded through the port of Ghent.
Not all the buildings in Ghent are hundreds of years old. Some look very old, but aren't really that old compared to the really old buildings. A lot of the buildings like the Saint George bridge and the Post Office building (in the picture above) are from 1913. They are built for the World's Fair that was held in Ghent that year. So many of the buildings date from that year.
Credits for this info for the boatman of the tourist boat we took.
Just look at the majestic buildings on the other side of the harbour. A pity that the crane was in the back in this shot.
Gravensteen
The boat tour continued to the Gravensteen Castle. This castle was built in the 12th century by Count Philip of Alsace. The castle is a very well-preserved medieval fortress. It had many different funtions in the past among which a courthouse and a prison.
Today Gravensteen houses a museum with exhibits on medieval weaponry and torture devices. We didn't have the time to make a tour in the castle itself.
We just didn't have enough time. So we do need to go back for a third time.
Just another shot of some of the houses along the route we made with the boat. It's so nice to make a trip with a boat through a city. In the first place, you really get a lot of information from the boatsmen about the different buildings and things that happened in the city. And secondly you don't have to walk all the way (which was nice because my parents in law can't walk that far).
I don't know why, but this narrow street was decorated with colorful flags. I thought it was a nice picture because it shows one of the many narrow cobble stone streets of which there are so many in Ghent.
This creep was painted on one of the walls of the famous grafitti street in Ghent. In this alley street artists can express their creativity because graffiti and street art are legal in this street. Artists regularly creating new pieces over existing ones, so the looks of this alley are always changing.
More towards the city center are two of the most iconic buildings of the city; the belfry and the Saint Bavo's Cathedral.
I'll make a seperate post of the belfry soon because my father in law and I made a tour on the inside of this beautiful tower.
The impressive gothic Saint Bavo cathedral is known for the famous painting "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" painted by the brothers Van Eyck. We did enter the church, but didn't see the painting. They asked a whopping 16 euro per person to visit the 'exhibition' which was quite a bit too much for us to see a painting and some other artefacts.
The rest of the cathedral was nice, but not that impressive. The interior was rather dark. But maybe I've seen to many beautiful churches and cathedrals to be impressed anymore.
I did like the stained steel glass windows.
At the end of the day we decided to grab a cup of coffee on one of the cosy terraces. This is the terrace on the Veerleplein across the Gravesteen castle. I took a photo of the terrace with the building in the background. When we sat down for a drink we spotted a guy in the window in the upper part of the building. You can see him in the photo on the right. When I did a search on Googled on the building I found out that it it a bed & breakfast. What an amazing spot for a B&B! Probably quite expensive too, but it might be a tip for those who like to visit Ghent.
I end this blog with the statue of Neptune, the king of the sea. It represents the importance of water for the city of Ghent.
The square used to be a fish market in the past. The sculpture of the man and a woman are representing the rivers Scheldt and Lys that flow through the city.
Conclusion
If you're planning a trip to Belgium, be sure to spend at least one day in Ghent. The atmosphere in this city is so nice. The old city center is free from cars and the people are very laid back. In most cities, I often find the atmosphere a bit tense, but not here in Ghent.
It was lovely to be able to visit it again and I don't think this will be the last time we have visited Ghent.
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